'.i.'i;;.ii-'.'';'.i;i''it'ffl 




COL. A. K. McCLURE, 

Of I'ennsylvauiff, 



•^M.^ 



LEISURE HOUR 



Vol. VII. DECEMBER, 1871. No. III. 

SKETCHES OF PEOMINENT PUBLIC MEN. 

N0MBEE FIFTY-FODS. 



BY J. TRAINOR KING, 



COL. A. K. McCLUKE. 

" Fortune a godrless is to fools alone, 
The wise are always masters of their own." 

If the life-history of any man in the State illustrates Dryden's idea, as 
above expressed, it is that of Col. Alexander K. McClure, the present and 
fifty-fourth subject of our series. Col. McClure's life has been made up of 
trials and triumphs, yet he has never fawned upon the " fickle goddess " for her 
smiles, nor bowed beneath her frowns. He comes of a robust race of moun- 
taineers, of Scotch-Irish descent, without the "guinea's stamp," but with one 
more indelible, more honorable — that of true manhood. He was born January 
9th, 1828, among the mountains of Perry County, Pennsylvania. His early 
schooling was of too meagre a nature to justify mention; perhaps more detri- 
mental than advantageous. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to 
the tanning trade. At eighteen his time had expired, and being pronounced 
au fait by his master, he started out as a journeyman. In 1846 he visited 
this city in the pursuit of his calling, extending his "tramp" to New York 
and New England. The same fall, however, he returned to his native county, 
and embarked in the more congenial avocation of newspaper publisher, estab- 
lishing The Juniata Sentinel, at Mifiiin. This opened a more fascinating field 
for his grasping mind, and he concentrated all his powers of thought, not 
only upon its managerial and editorial intricacies, but the practical working 
of the composing room, and in one year's time had sufiiciently mastered the 
latter to assume the foremanship, and get out his paper with the assistance of 
an £-pprentice. Here, then, before he was twenty, he was master of two 
practical trades, and an editor well versed in politics, at least local. At the 
instance of Joseph B. Meyers and Henry White, of Philadelphia, he was, oa 
his twenty-first birthday, appointed Aid to Gov. Wm. F. Johnston, and herbce 
his title of Colonel. In 1850 he was appointed Deputy United States Mar- 
shal for Juniata County. This appointment was, perhaps, mainly attributable 
to the influimce he wielded through the Sentinel, which had, by this time,, 
gained quite an extended circulation and conquered a decided success. 
7 



I f^ 



Sa LEISURE HOURS. 

In 1852 he purchased the Chambershurg Repository, which he enlarged and 
soon gave a State-wide circulation and influence. In 1853, when only twenty- 
five years of age, he was nominated on the Whig ticket for Auditor-General, 
but the State being at that time largely democratic, he was defeated by Hon. 
Ephraim Banks, the Democratic candidate. In 1855 he was voluntarily 
appointed Superintendent of Public Printing by Governor Pollock. This 
position he resigned after having served eight months. The same year, 
having studied law with William McLellan, Esq., of Chambershurg, he was 
admitted to the bar, and became the law partner of his preceptor. 

In 1856 he received another appointment from Governor Pollock — that of 
Superintendent of the Erie and Northeast Railroad, to settle the riots which 
had been so productive of mischief for a year previous in the City of Erie. 
He succeeded in adjusting the difficulties promptly and finally, to the great 
relief of the peaceful and more progressive citizens of Erie and to his own 
credit. The same year he was a delegate to the National Republican Con- 
vention, which nominated Fremont and Dayton for President and Vice- 
President, and made a thorough canvass of the State in behalf of the ticket. 
In 1857 he was one of the handful (twenty-seven, all told,) of Republican mem- 
bers elected to the Legislature, and from a district that gave four hundred 
majority against his party. In the House he took a prominent part in the 
sale of the public works, and in aiding the construction of the Erie Railroad. 
In 1858 he was returned to the House with a largely increased majority, and 
the following year, 1859, was chosen State Senator from his district by four 
hundred majority, after a most exciting and bitter contest, succeeding a 
democrat who had added three hundred and fifty democratic votes to the 
district by a new apportionment. 

In 1860 he was appointed Chairman of the Republican State Central Com- 
mittee. In this campaign he made, for the first time in the State, a thorough 
and complete organization in every county, township and precinct. The 
same year he was mentioned prominently for United States Senator, but 
declined to be a candidate, and supported Mr. Wilmot. 

When the war broke out he was in the Senate, and was made Chairman of 
the Committee on Military Affairs— a position he filled with intelligent dis- 
crimination. During that trying period of our national existence, he gave a 
most unselfish and cordial support to the National and State Governments, 
and was author of most important war measures in his place in the Senate. 

In 1862 he was solicited by President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton to 
make the draft in Pennsylvania, and, with two clerks, he had the State 
enrolled, credits adjusted, draft made and seventeen regiments in the field in 
sixty days. To give him the military authority to make the draft he was 
commissioned Assistant Adjutant-General of the United States. This he 
resigned as soon as the work was completed. 

In 1863 he declined the Chairmanship of the Republican State Central 
Committee, but gave his undivided time and best energies during the cam- 
paign for Governor Curtin's re-election. In 1864 he was elected delegate at 
large to the Republican National Convention, and was formally requested by 
three-fourths of the delegates of the State Convention to accept the Chair- 



LEISURE HOURS. 83 

manship i^ "'•' 5tate Committee. He declined this to accept the nomination 
for the Legislature from a new district, which was strongly Democratic. He 
was elected by four hundred majority. 

After the defeat of his party in October of that year, and at the special 
request of President Lincoln, he came to Philadelphia to aid in organizing, or 
perfecting the organization, for the Presidential election to follow in Novem- 
ber. The same year, in July, Lee's army, in its invasion of and detour in 
Pennsylvania, destroyed all his property, near Chambersburg, amounting to 
$76,000. To do this it even went out of its way, as if with special intent to 
leave him homeless, as a punishment for his ardent support of the National 
Government. 

In 1867 he left Chambersburg, and spent the summer in the Rocky Moun- 
tains for the benefit of his wife and son's health. On his return he located 
in Philadelphia, in the practice of the law, and soon after published a work 
on his travels in the new Territories. 

He was Chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation in the National Repub- 
lican Convention that nominated General Grant for President, and advocated 
the claims of Governor Curtin for Vice-President, in a speech of great power 
and earnestness. During that campaign he devoted his entire time to the 
canvass of Pennsylvania, until after the October election, when he stumped 
Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts under direction of the National 
Committee. He made his last political speech in 1869, for Governor Jewell, 
in Connecticut; although he really withdrew from active participation in 
politics after the Presidential contest in 1868, ten years of incessant labor in 
politics having completely broken him down in health and pocket; and 
besides these reasons, amounting almost to necessities, for a more qtfiet and 
profitable life, he considered the great issues of the war settled by that 
election, and the responsibilities resting upon him as a loyal citizen discharged. 

Col. McClure gave more time and made more sacrifices for the Repub- 
lican party in the days when hard work was needed than, perhaps, any man in 
the State, and he did it for principle and not to feather his own nest. Though 
an acknowledged leader, and a bold and unvanquishable defender of its doc- 
trines, he never allowed his name to be used in connection with any of the 
great remunerative offices in its gift. He was Mr. Lincoln's most trusted 
political adviser in Pennsylvania, and a bosom friend of Governor Curtin. 
He was a loorldng member of the Whig and Republican parties, from 1849 to 
1868. and never missed being present at a State Convention in all the years 
intervening. As a representative man he literally towered over liis fellows ; 
sitting in his seat in a state of apparent indifference to the thunder of this 
member, or the rhetoric of that, his herculean form would suddenly bolt up 
and in words, few but conclusive, he would demolish the beautiful fabric 
of the rhetorician, or bring the Jupiter down to mundane realities. His 
great speeches were, however, carefully digested, and delivered with the 
power of eloquence and earnestness for which he is characterized. Chief 
among these were those in favor of a liberal policy of improvements; in aid 
of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad, and in the repeal of the unjust tax upon 
onnage, a repeal by which the commerce of Philadelphia was greatly enlarged. 



84 LEISURE HOURS. 

His i>olitical speeches defined the policy of his party in thePT-ying time 
when the outbreak of war gave birth to the most delicate and complex ques- 
tions. His last great speech in the Legislature was in 1865, in support of the 
thirteenth amendment, abolishing slavery. His campaign speeches are too 
familiar to our readers for special reference. 

As a specimen of his powers as an extemporaneous speaker, we make the 
following extract from a response to a toast given at Governor Curtin's ban- 
quet, June 12th, 1869, after Col. McClure had retired from public life. 
The response was to the toast — "The Young Eepublicans of 1860." We 
quote as follows : 

"Nine years ago the young Eepublicans of Pennsylvania made him (Gov. 
Curtin.) their chieftain, and since then he has had no rival in their confidence 
and love. Through evil and good report, whether in power or sceptreless, 
with them, 'where sits MacDonald, theie is the head of the table.' Others 
have brightened and fiided, have climbed and fallen, but his name and his 
record have inspired the earnest men in every conflict. The retrospect of 
their achievements covers less than a decade. They have had perpetual 
battle. Whoever gathered the laurels of their victories, whether worthily 
conferred, or won in dishonor and worn in shame, it was their task to com- 
plete the work they had so bravely begun. They have fought the great fight, 
until the full fruition of the country's sacrifices in war is realized in the 
sublimest fabric of human government ever reared by man or blessed by 
heaven. It was a mighty struggle, and priceless were the offerings on the 
altar of freedom. By scores of thousands M'e count our dead, our maimed, 
our widowed and our fatherless; and among those who enjoy with us the 
blessings for which our martyrs died, how sadly eyes are dimmed, how deeply 
brows are furrowed, how locks are silvered, and strong forms bowed in the 
crucible of a nation's redemption. Sooner for some, later for others, and not 
long hence for all, we shall surrender our now unstained inheritance to those 
who will preserve, in growing power and grandeur, our perfected liberty and 
justice for future generations. There will be noble names recorded with 
noble deeds, to inspire those who come after us with the highest devotion to 
free institutions; and even the humble and forgotten in the pages of man's 
most illustrious annals have their proud reward, that they filled the measure 
of their duty in maintaining that 'government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.' " 

In these sketches we have not aimed to discover greatness " hid beneath a 
holly." We prefer that the public should first make the discovery ; it is 
more likely to do so than an humble individual. Therefore, when we say 
that Col. McClure is a great political leader, a man of extraordinary ability 
as a public speaker, lecturer and expounder of law, we express not our own 
opinion, but that of the public. Men may differ with him politically, but 
all accord to him the honor of exalted thought, clear comprehension, earnest 
intent, and patriotic devotion to principle. No man in the State, if we may 
except General Cameron, has figured so conspicuously in the political arena, 
and none stand before the world with a clearer record. 

In personal appearance he is commanding. He would be singled out of a 



LEISURE HOURS. 85 

tlionsand as "Alec." McClure from description alone, and from his presence 
would be noted as a man of decided calibre. Six feet and two inches 
in height, powerfully built, and without being corpulent or even fleshy, 
weighing two hundred pounds and over, with a massive head and expressive 
face, it is little wonder he* attracts attention and admiration. All great men 
are peculiar, otherwise they would be ordinary. His leading peculiarity is 
seeming indifference to surroundings, or rather, taking minute account of 
what is going on around him, and at the same time writing or holding con- 
verse with one or more persons. In the Senate, as we have before intimated, 
while having appeared wholly absorbed in the work before him, during the 
discussion of some knotty question, he would, when the proper time arrived, 
rise in place and take up the points gone over, seriatim, and dissect them and 
the arguments in their favor as thorouglily as if he had had his whole mind 
bent on the subject. This trait was rehearsed to us by Hon. George Connell 
in his lifetime, and was accounted by him a most wonderful attribute. The 
same gentleman, himself, by the way, one of the brightest lights that ever 
illumined the Senate chamber, paid Col. McClure the compliment of having 
more brains than any man in the State. 

Col. McClure is highly social, and delights in spending his leisure hours 
in the company of genial friends; and being possessed of fine conversational 
powers, and a well-stored mind, he is ever a welcome guest. He is a warm 
friend and a relentless enemy. Like a woman, he either loves or hates. 
Slow to form an opinion, he rarely changes one. and the same in his attach- 
ments. In this he would seem to have followed the counsel of Polonius — 

"The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." 

Aside from this, a characteristic of the race from which he springs, he is 
largelv individual. 



'G^ 



CHARLES CAEEOLL OF OAEROLLTON. 
This worthy gentleman and distinguished philanthropist, was the last of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence to be summoned to the tomb. 
He was born at Annapolis, Md., September 8, 1737, 0. S., and at eight years 
of age was taken to France to receive an education. Having remained there 
twelve years, he visited London and directed his attention to the study of 
law, and in 1764 he returned to Maryland richly qualified for the important 
duties which subsequently he discharged with so much credit to himself and 
honor to his country. He was one of the intrepid champions who opposed 
the Stamp Act in 1765, and in 1771-2 he entered the arena of public con- 
troversy with the provincial secretary on the subject of the governor's pro- 
clamation, in which he had commanded all officers not to take any greater 
fees than therein expressed. In this contest he came off triumphant, and 
the obnoxious proclamation was suspended on a gallows and then burnt by 
the common hangman. Mr. Carroll was one of the commissioners who 
visited Canada in 1776, to induce that province to join the colonies in 
declaring themselves free and independent, and on his return to Philadelphia 
he found the subject of independence under discussion in Congress, and that 



86 LEISURE HOURS. 

the Maryland delegates had been directed to refuse it their sanction. Not 
being a member of Congress at that time, he hastened to the convention, 
then sitting in Annapolis, and in his own seat in that body advocated the 
independent cause with such success that the convention not only gave new 
instructions to their delegates, but elected Mr. Carroll as a member of Con- 
gress with them, with full instructions to espouse and defend the cause of 
independence. 

The next day after he took his seat as a member of that body, "a second 
resolution was adopted, directing the Declaration to be engrossed on parch- 
ment, and signed by all the members, which was accordingly done on the 
second of August. As Mr. Carroll had not given a vote on the adt ption of 
that instrument, he was asked by the President if he would sign it? 'Most 
willingly,' he replied, and immediately affixed his name to that record of glory, 
which has endeared him to his country, and rendered his name immortal. 
He was a member of the U. S. Senate from 1788 to 1791, from which time 
until 1801 he was an active member of the Senate of his native State." 

The editor of the Boston Courier, having enjoyed an interview with him a 
short time previous to his death, thus describes him : 

"As we entered his parlor Mr. Carroll arose to salute us with the cus- 
tomary compliments, and offered chairs with almost as much ease and firmness 
as a man of fifty. His under-dress was of brown broad-cloth — his waistcoat 
of the fashion of the last century. He wore no coat, but a gown of the same 
material as the waistcoat and small clothes. His hair was of a silvery white- 
ness — his teeth apparently perfect — his eyes animated and sparkling, though, 
as he stated, they had become too dim to enable him to read. His hearing 
did not seem to be in the least degree impaired. He spoke with ease, articu- 
lated with uncommon distinctness, and his voice possessed all the clearness of 
vigorous manhood. 

"The character of this revered patriot we shall not attempt to portray; its 
sublime simplicity we feel our incompetency to describe. Nor is it in the 
compass of our ability to express the emotions we felt when our hand was 
cordially pressed in that which, more than half a century ago, set its signa- 
ture to an instrument that certified the birth of a nation, and placed on the 
declaration of our freedom the seal of eternity." 

He died on the 14th of November, 1832, aged 95 years. 



If the best man's faults were written on his forehead, it would make hitu 
pull his hat over his eyes. 

" Never give up," is an excellent maxim ; but it means not that we should 
always hold on in the same way, as the many take it, but in some way: in 
the same, if we can, and find it good ; but in some other, if we cannot, and 
find it better. 

A New York politician, in writing a letter of condolence to the widow of 
a "country member" who had been his friend, said: "I am pained to hear 
that Mr. Sorrybones has gone to heaven. We were bosom friends, but now 
we shall never meet again." 



McCLURE-GRAY CAMPAIGN. 



-^ mmm >- 



;¥il Se&mtestiil P£gii£@i, 



1873. 



THE 



loeLUBE-^GRAY gEIATORIAL mmi 



Hon. George Connell was elected to the Senate for the fifth 
term, on the 10th day of October, 1871, by the people of the 
Fourth Senatorial District of Philadelphia, and on the 27th 
day of October he died, leaving the Senate stand a tie politi- 
cally. Important as it was politically, and to facilitate legis- 
lation, to have the vacancy filled, a writ could not be issued 
by the Speaker of the Senate for a special election until the 
returns were ofiicially transmitted to the Senate on the first 
Tuesday of January. As soon as the Legislature met, Speaker 
Brodhead issued the writ for an election, to be held on Tuesday, 
the 30th of January, 1872. 

Prior to the meeting of the Legislature, there was much 
discussion and active canvassing among Republican politicians 
in the district, as to the proper candidate for the party to 
adopt. Among other names that of A. K. McClure was 
ur^^ed by some of the more independent members of the party. 
The Germantown Telegraph, one of the oldest and most influ- 
ential of the Philadelphia weeklies, took up the suggestion, 
and practically opened the McClure campaign by the following 
editorial in that journal of the 6th day of December last: 



2 

THE STATE SENATE. 

The notable scheme of the Chairman of the Democratic 
State Central Committee to secure control of the Senate of 
the Commonwealth in defiance of the popular will has come to 
crief. The mandamus nnanimouslv granted by the Supreme 
Court compelled the recusant return judge to sign the certi- 
ficate of Mr. Weakly, the Republican Senator-elect from the 
Cumberland and Franklin district, or go to jail; and the afore- 
said iudc'e, with every willingness to cheat Mr. Weakly out of 
his seat by withholding his certificate, but with a decided dislike 
for imprisonment, signed the document. This makes the 
Senate a tie, which it would not haye been but for the atrocious 
frauds in the Luxeme district, where a Republican Senator- 
elect was deliberately cyphered out of his election. 

The future complexion of the Senate will now depend upon 
the choice of a successor to the late Mr. Connell in the Fourth 
District of Philadelphia, and as ^Ir. C. had seven thousand 
majority, the result cannot be in doubt. Some influential 
journals have earnestly exhorted the people of the district to 
elect CoL Alexander K. McClure to fill this yacancy, and per- 
sonally we know of no man whom we should feel more pleasure 
in supporting. But there are some diSculties in the way. 
This Senatorial District is so oyerwhelmingly in favor of the 
renomisation of President Grant, and of sustaininj: his adminis- 



c 



trative measures as well as those of Congress, that it would seem 
rather ridiculous for it to send to the Stare Senate a gentleman 
who, with all his acknowledged ability and public services, has 
not concealed his dissatisfaction with the existing order of 
thin gs. It is true that during the last election Col. McClure 
render e*! a? much effective service for the Republican cause as 
any man in the State, and perhaps he may have changed hia 
yiews somewhat. If so we should be glad to hear from him, 
and so woold the people of the district. We are heartily tired 
of small men in the Legislature, and should be proud to hare 
such a Senator as McClure, for we believe that he would serve 
tte interests of the district faithfully. The Republican force? 



in the Senate seem to stand very much in need of a bold and 
able leader, such as Col. McClure was when last there; and if 
the difficulty spoken of above could be removed, we believe 
the Colonel would be gladly accepted by the district. 

To the foreo-oins: Mr. McCIure answered as follows: 

Philadelphia, December 14, 1571. 
Col. p. R. Freas, Editor Germaxtowx Telegraph : 

My Bear Sir : — I was absent from home for some days, and 
missed your paper of the 6th inst. Since my return my atten- 
tion has been called to your leading editorial of that date, in 
which you discuss my position as a possible candidate for State 
Senator in the Fourth District, and state that you and the 
people of the district would " be glad to hear" from me on the 
subject of President Grant's renomination. My assumed pre- 
ference for another than Grant as the next Republican stand- 
ard-bearer, is treated as a difl&culty in the way of my election 
to the Senate. 

For the kind and quite too flattering notice you take of my 
humble public services in the past, I thank you, and permit 
me to say in all candor that I have not proposed myself as a 
candidate for the vacant Senatorship, and will not do so. The 
strongest personal considerations make any political position 
undesirable to me. If imposed upon me as a public duty, I 
should accept it upon the principle that no citizen can justly 
refuse public service when fairly required of him ; but as such 
duties are not common in these days of machine politics, I feel 
that I am not likely to be interrupted in my wish for continued 
retirement. 

I cannot controvert your statement that the people of the 
district are " overwhelmingly in favor of the renomination of 
Grant," for I am not advised on the subject. Thus far, I be- 
lieve, they have not given any formal, or even informal expres- 
sion of their choice. If I were called upon to represent their 
wishes as to the Presidency in a nominating convention, I 



should faithfully reflect their preference or return the trust to 
them ; but, as an humble individual, I prefer adherence to my 
own convictions of political duties to the approval of even so 
intelligent and patriotic a constituency as the people of the 
Fourth District. If not to prefer Grant as the next Republican 
nominee Avould make me " seem rather ridiculous" as a Senato- 
rial candidate, or interpose "difficulties in the way," I am not 
eligible. 

What the Presidential preference of a citizen has to do with 
the election of a State Senator, any more than the preferences 
of the people in the selection of their preachers or wives have 
to do with the same subject, I do not comprehend; but I as- 
sume it is so, because you say it is so. Accepting your pre- 
mises as correct, could a stronger reason be given for the inflexi- 
ble limitation of the Presidential tenure to a single term ? A 
State legislature is presumed to be selected to discharge cer- 
tain specific duties. The ambition of national candidates or 
the distribution of the patronage and plunder of the National 
Government, do not come within the scope of his public powers 
or actions. He is the custodian of the interests of his district 
and of the State to be aff"ected by legislation. He has no 
voice, no power beyond any other citizen of equal character, in 
controlling Presidential nominations, and those who would 
erect such new standards of eligibility, overlooking all the 
leo-itimate and vital purposes of legislation, must do it in defer- 
ence to the arbitrary exactions of power, and not in deference 
to enlightened public opinion. 

The Republican party is the party of liberal and patriotic 
progress. It has its wisely-constituted tribunals to decide upon 
its candidates and its policy, and thus define the duty of all. 
Until the supreme authority of the organization is invoked to 
reconcile its conflicting views and preferences, the utmost free- 
dom of conviction and expression as to both men and measures, 
has heretofore been claimed and conceded as the prerogative 
of the humblest as well as of the greatest of its advocates. — 
That it seems not to be so now, is one of the most significant 
and dangerous signs of the times — dangerous to the Republi- 



can party, and, tlicrefore, dangerous to the country. The 
administration, chosen by the Republican organization, that 
resents honest Republican counsel and criticism, betrays pal- 
pable weakness, or proclaims its power and purpose to defy 
the popular judgment, and either is a crime against the nation. 
Under our government men in official positions, from the high- 
est to the lowest, are but the servants, not the masters of the 
people. 

I do not prefer President Grant's renomination. It is con- 
fessed that the Republicans have many men who would be 
more competent, and, at least, equally faithful in the 
first civil office of the government; and I believe that they 
would much bettor maintain the unity and purity of the 
organization. Believing it, I deem it my right and my 
duty to say so. When the accepted authority of the party 
declares me to be mistaken, lean cheerfully defer to it. 

The Republican party has been in power in the nation. State 
and city for many years. We had a faithless accidental Presi- 
dent for a time, and our city has had a Democratic executive; 
but the practical power of government has been uninterrupt- 
edly Republican. If Republican criticism of Republican ad- 
ministration is an offence, why is the cry for reform not 
silenced ? It comes from our own long forbearing people, and 
not from the enemy, and it arraigns Republican, not Demo- 
cratic misrule. It comes up to Congress from every section of 
the country, for relief from oppressive taxes, from wasteful 
expenditures, from peculation and defalcations, and from 
swarms of arrogant and useless officials, whose chief employ- 
ment seems to be to instruct the party who it must accept for 
places of trust and profit, from President down to alderman. — 
It comes up to our Legislature from all parties in the State, 
and demands fundamental limitations as the only source of 
public safety. It comes up from the press and people of this 
city, as with one voice, to save private property and public 
credit. 

These are not the complaints of disappointed ambition, but 
the faithful criticisms of sincere men, seeking to protect and 



preserve their own inheritance. They do not propose political 
revolution, although that must come soon if they are unheeded. 
Thej aim to employ the Republican organization as the proper 
instrumentality to correct the patent and oppressive evils it has 
tolerated. With a system of barter and sale of Federal ap- 
pointments that prostitutes the civil service to the advance- 
ment of unworthy men ; with a system of State legislation that 
is a running sore and a standing reproach, and with our crush- 
ing city taxes and debt, both rapidly increasing without visible 
benefits to our people, the men who would maintain Republi- 
can ascendancy must remember that "faithful are the wounds 
of a friend." , 

We appear to be upon the threshold of systematic reform 
in our State government. It has long been battled for, but 
was long defeated by those who make politics a trade. AVhat 
fruits the people will gather for their efforts the next Legida- 
ture must decide. I am hopeful that a Republican Congress 
will not too long delay obedience to the imperative demand for 
civil service reform, and for the complete exercise of the 
supreme civil authority of the government. I need not say 
that reform must come in riiiladelphia — not the shadow or a 
mockery, but the substance that will dethrone the spoilsmen. 
It will come through the Republican organization, as it should, 
unless the already sorely-tested forbearance of the people is 
taught that forbearance must cease to be a virtue. 

la those various channels of power — the nation, State and 
city — fearless Republican criticism has given the Republican 
organization the opportunity to vindicate its fame, and attest 
the integrity and patriotism of its people. It stands in history 
as a party of honest convictions and sublime achievements; 
but the time is at hand when judicious and positive reform 
must become its accepted and avowed policy, or it must dim 
the lustre of its noblest deeds by self-invited destruction. 

1 have frankly complied with your request to hear from me. 
If what I have said places me beyond the range of a Senato- 
rial election, I can have no personal regrets, for it will but 



deny me what I do not want, and I have performed my duty 
as I understand it. Very truly yours, 

A. K. McCLURE. 



First. 


Second 


51 


02 


29 


32 


2i 


19 


9 










NOMINATION OF COL. GRAY. 

On the 17th day of January the Republican conference 
met, and after an exciting contest, Henry W. Gray was 
nominated. The following is a statement of the several 
ballots: 

Henry W. Gray, .... 

Christian Knoass, .... 

S. A. Miller, 

J. N. Marks, .... 

Total, 113 113 

Necessary to choice, 57. 

Mr. Gray was declared the nominee, and he appeared before 
the conference and delivered the following address: 

3Ir. President and G-entlemen of the Convention : — Thi.s, 
the most honored event of my life, finds me too deeply moved 
to appropriately express the profound gratitude with which 
your action this day filled me. 

I ha-e, indeed, no speech that can convey to you my <lcep 
sense of obligation for this most distinguished exhibition of 
your trust and confidence, and the faith it implies in my 
ability to represent the interests of this district, important and 
multifarious as they are, in the Senate of this great Common- 
wealth. 

You are the delesrated voice of the Fourth District — called 
by it to exercise your best wisdom in the nomination of its 
Senator. I can only join to my poorly expressed thanks the 
sincere assuraice that my best eifarts shall constantly be 
exerted to realize the hope you have reposed in me. There is 
a propriety, on this occasion, which entitles you to know 
something of the feelings with which I regard the office and 



8 

duties of a State Senator. There "was a time in tlie earlier 
history of our Commonwealth when this position was con- 
sidered among the highest and most potential for the public 
welfare. 

It was fortified in its high prerogatives bj the respect and 
confidence of every pure-minded citizen — a respect and con- 
fidence attaching to men who found their strongest claims to 
it in the integrity and purity of their legislative acts. How 
different — how lamentably different — it is to-day, when the 
public mind regards with suspicion the very name of Senator. 
It is neither my purpose nor desire to criticise either the 
representative or his constituency for this existing evil ; it is 
rather my hope and anxious desire that I may become to some 
extent instrumental in restorinoj confidence in the minds of the 
people by an unselfish devotion to their common and highest 
interests. 

The wise and most profitable economy which has character- 
ized the administration of the government of our State durinsr 
the last twelve years, and which has worked so great a reduc- 
tion in our public debt, besides building up and sustaining so 
many praiseworthy, because most humane public charities, 
should be carefully continued, and where it is possible, even 
improved upon. The public financial exhibits during the last 
decade have been as much a matter of general congratulation 
as they have been distinguished in making a new era in our 
State affairs. I wish, as I believe does every citizen of Phila- 
delphia, that we could observe the same praiseworthy charac- 
ters in the general legislation which has been running through 
these years. That most reckless propensity known as special 
legislation, has grown until it has reached the most disastrous 
consequences to the well-being of every community in the 
State, and this evil becomes to-day the most potent reason for 
such a constitutional reform as will correct and prohibit this 
abuse of legislative power. 

Perhaps no portion of the State has felt this evil so sensibly 
as the city of which this district forms a part. Now, living as 
we do, under a charter which invests us with full legislative 



power over all our local concerns, and feeling as we do, that 
the citjzons of this great corporation are tlie most competent to 
appreciate their necessities, and to provide for then, it is natural 
that every interference by the State to the pre;judice of our 
local interests should be met with the sternest protest. I sin- 
cerely liope to see this practice entirely change. There may 
be necessary and wliolesome exceptions — but the rule of legis- 
lative interference in our municipal aflairs is decidedly per- 
nicious. 

While I do not affect any concealment of the gratification 
this honor gives me personally, since it realizes an ambition 
heretofore confessed, to serve the State in this highest legisla- 
tive capacity, I accept this nomination under that sense of 
duty which a call like this, to serve the public, must impose 
upon a citizen so honored. It will be my pleasure as well as 
my duty to study the public welfare — and especially the in- 
terests of this district — and reflect, so far as it lies within my 
huml)le abilities, the wishes of my constituents in all things. 

There can be no divorcing of the political sympathies of the 
State from those of the nation, when the complexion of both 
sprino- from the same sensation causes, to wit: the common 
desire of the people to have and maintain a government that 
shall preserve peace, a wise civil policy, and faithful 
economy as the essential conditions of their happiness and 
prosperity. In the accomplishment of this result, each State 
must perform no mean part, and none, perhaps, occcupy so 
potential a position as our own, to give a substantial direction 
to this great purpose. 

The people of the United States will soon be called upon to 
shape the policy of the General Government for another 
Presidential term, and they will justly and necessarily rely 
much upon the temper and character of their State and 
national representatives for the effective expression of their 
will. In this approaching contest, the great Republican party 
will be reinforced, as heretofore, by a proud reference to its 
own past record, and will point assuringly to the capacity and 
integrity which has been displayed by its own great leaders. 



10 

Adilressinji; as I do, so intelligent a convention as this, I 
need not call upon you to reflect how far the continuation of 
that success which has so conspicuously marked Republican 
rule, may depend upon the faithful reflection of your principles 
in your own State Government. In conventions like these, 
speaking for the people, lies the very inception of that political 
victory which awaits us in 1872. Sincerely hoping that I may 
be so fortunate as to realize, in my humble way, your expec- 
tations in this !ind every other direction, permit me again, 
gentlemen, to thank you, one and all, for this high evidence of 
your kindness and confidence. 



Most of the Republican papers of Philadelphia boldly de- 
nounced the action of the conference, and none of them gave 
an ardent support to Mr. Gray. Several committees, repre- 
senting Republicans, Reformers and Democrats, calleil upon 
Mr, MaClure the evening of the same d ly Mr. G/ay was 
nominated, and urged him to become an imlepondent candidate. 
He declir.ed to answer definitely until the question should be 
formally presented to him. Two days afcerw.ir !s the fallow- 
ing coi rcsijijudeuce appeared in the public journals, by which 
Mr. McCiure not only accepted the candiducj^ but clearly 
definetl his views on the question of State and Municipal 
Reform.* 



*The following letters sufficiently explain themselves: 

Gkrwantown, January 20th, 1872. 
To Messhs. a. J. Drrxkl. E. A. AVarne, Charles McIlvain, Ai.kxandkr Hknkt, 

Wu. II. iMRKRICK, AND others: — 

Gentlemen — Your letter has been duly received asking me to accert a nomination 
as an IiiJopf^ndcnt cmdldato for the Fourth Sanatorial District. Beins in full 
sympathy with the spirit of your letter, I should have deemed it mv duty to have ac- 
cepted such a nomination had not a third candidate entero.l tlic field in thi i'lterest 
of reform, and in opposition to those who wrongfully claim to represent the Repub- 
lican party of our district, and who, by all manner of evil means, have managed to 
gain such complete control of the machinery of the organization as to make it abso- 
lutely necessary for us to drive them from power in order to preserve our simple 
rights as citizens. 



11 

Philadelphia, January 18, 1872. 
Hon. a. K. McClure: 

Sir: — The violent abuses of the delegate system in the 
primary action of the Republican Party of this city, as 
developed in many recent nominations, and especially in the 
nomination of a Senatorial candidate for theFouRTii District, 
on the 17th iust., demand the positive reprobation of all good 
Republican citizens. 

Believing that the time is at hand for Republican reform in 
the primary action of the party, in our municipal government, 
and in our system of State legislation, whereby the -wishes of 
the Republicans will be respected in the selection of candidates, 
the purity of the ballot be restored, official responsibility and 
economy enforced in our city, and the glaring evils of special 
legislation arrested, we respectfully ask you to permit us to 
present your name to the people of this district, at the 
approaching special election, as a Republican Reform candidate 
for Senator. 



Under sufh circumstances, I think you will asree with rae that to divide our forces 
in tlie f:i.ec ofour well-disciplined opponents would be but to i- sure their success, 
while by uniting upon the Hon. A. K. McClure. to whom I need hardly say I have 
above referred, and V-y visorous action we may well hope to secure a victory the im- 
portance of which "Very tnan must realize who calmly considers the presont condition 
of our municipal affiirs. I must, therefore, beg leave to decline a nomination, and 
thanking you for the very complimentary terms in which you have been pleased to 
couch your letter, 

I remain. 

Very respectfully, yours, &c., 

JAMES STARE. 



Philadklphia, January 22d, 1872. 

Geo. Bur.T-, Esq.. Secretary Citizens' Reform Association: 

Dear Sir. — In answer to your note of this date enclosing a printed copy of tho 
Platform of tho Citizens' R sform Association, I would say that I regard my letter ac- 
cepting the call of the Republicans of the District to become a Republican Reform 
candi I it ', for Ssn itor a,s covering every principle .avowed in your platform. But, 
lest it should be coisid^irel a? in any sense ambiguous, I do not hesitate to say that 
I fully approve of tho declaration of measures you have made as essential to State 
and Municipal Reform, and that they will have my cordial support in or out of the 
Legislature. 

Respectfully yours, &c., 

A. K. McCLURE. 



12 



Confiding in your ripe experience and confessed ahilitv as a 
legislator, your devotion to Republican principles, and your 
fearless advocacy of the reforms so earnestly desired by the 
great mass of our citizens, the people of the District will, we 
feel assured, triumphantly elect you. 



Bridesburg Manf. Company, 

Barton H. Jenks, Pres., 
J. E. Caldu-ell & Co., 
Bobbins, Clark & Biddle, 
Coleman Sellers, 
John Sellers, Jr., 
Wm. Sellers, 
Edward H. Williams, 
W. H. Wilson, 
B. B. Comegys, 
Wm. Rushton, Jr., 
Wm. Painter & Co., 
B. F. Chatham, 
Chas. E Morgan, 
Frank L. Altemus, 
L. T. Watson, 
R. N. Buckley, 
Jas. S. Young, 
Robt. W. Truitt, 
Wm. Montelius, 
Wm. Sanderson, 
Geo. H. Christian, 
S. A. Coyle, 
J. W. Lauo-hlin, 
J. A. Linn, 
Wm. Stevenson, 
G. E. Mancill, 
Jas. Trimble, 
Wm. A. Husband, 
Alex. J. Andrews, 
John Weik, 
Wm. J. Benners, 
Jos. S. Hayward, 



W. B. Weir, 
John H. Wiestling, 
Samuel Sloan, 
Geo. C. Hanimill, 

F. J. Parvin, 
Geo. W. Parvin, 
J. H. T. Jackson, 
Dan'l J. Cochran, 
John E. Diehl, 
Samuel G. Diehl, 

G. A. Heberton, 
Charles S. Baker, 
Chas. C. MuUer, 
AVm. H. Jones, 
Robert Macsirefror, 
S. L. Meredith, 
M. M. Pugh, 
Chas. F. Gussman, 
John A. Boger, 
Chas. W. Kuhnle, 
Chas. N. Kuhnle, 
David B. Fox, 

D. M. Lane, 
John Tolbert, 
Isaac W. Hughes, M. D., 
Samuel J. Downs, 
J. Levis Worrall, 
Jos. K. Culiii, 
George V. Edd}-, 
Henry H. English, 
Edmund Moore, 
Wm. J. Suplec, 
H. W. Mansfield, 



13 



Joseph Hayward, 
Alfred II. Potter, 
Clias. W. Hancock, 
Albert S. x\shmead, 
Thos. P. Campbell, 
W. H. Wallace, M. D., 
Chas. 11. Noblit, 
Wm. Howell, 
H. W. Siddall, 
H. C. Mcllvain, 
Chas. G. Blatchley, 
John Shed wick, 
Jas. C. Shedwick, 
Samuel E. Smith, 
Robert Barker, 
John Moore, 
J. R. Sypher, 
I, C. Paynter, 
Ths. D. Crispin, 

Jas. Bateman, 
John M. Powell, 

t. D. Jiuld, 

Chas. F. F. Klotz, 

John Gardiner, 

Benj. F. Weckerly, 

M. Wanner, 

Geo. N. Moore, 

R. ]M. Moore, 

Geo. B Hilliard, 

L. F. Hilliard, 

S. G. North, 

E. P. Sloan & Bro., 

Howard L. Sloan, 

Jas. B. Allen, 

Jos. G. H. Muller, 

Jas. M. Sellers, 

W. H. Armstrong, 

And over eight hundred others, 

in full by circular. 



W. G. Spencer, 
C. F, Spencer, 
Robert Cherry, 
J. E. Mitchell, 
Dr. A. W. Green, 
0. W. Green, 
J. B. Eussier, 

A. W. Bussier, 
P. G. McCollin, 

B. Darlington, 
G. D. Bender, 
J. F. Jones, 
Chas. Weiss, 
Elias Cox, 

0. Darlington, 
Simon Hamburger, 
John R. Kennady, 
Wm. Williamson, 
Thos. Barker, 
A. J. Rose, 
Edward Nicholson, 
Edward Bennett, 
Samuel Lewis, 
Henry N. Johnson, 
James Lang-stroth, 
Theo. A. Langstroth, 
Dr. A. Bockius, 
A. G. Elliott, 
H. McCallum, 
C. Royal, 
G. E. Thomas, 
Thomas Moore, M. D., 
J. H. Comly, 
Jos. H. Brown, 
Samuel Kilpatrick, 
Frederick Orth, 
Jonas M. Walker, 
whose names will be published 



14 



Philadelphia, January 19, 1872. 

Gentlemen: — Your favor of the 18th instant, signed by 
nearly one thousand Republican citizens of the Fourth Sena- 
torial District, in a few hours, asking me to become a Repub- 
lican Reform Candidate for Senator, has been received. 

I profoundly regret the humiliating necessity that compels 
faithful Republicans to turn from the proper nominating con- 
ference, to present a candidate to the people of the Fourth 
District. They could not, however, do otherwise, unless at the 
sacrifice of every consideration of self-respect and public duty. 
A people so conspicuous for intelligence and patriotism, and 
for the magnitude and diversity of their material interests, 
should not be shamed by primary elections marked by violence, 
fraud, and even murderous assaults, nor by a conference 
assuming to represent them, in which two policemen were 
necessary to protect each delegate from himself, his fellows and 
contestants, and from the gangs of desperadoes hired by the 
successful candidate and his chief competitors to compass a 
nomination. 

I fully agree with you that the Republican organization, 
being the party of power in the City and State, should be the 
instrumentality through which to effect the clearly demanded 
reforms. It has overlooked grave evils while discharging the 
holiest duties to free government, until they have grown in 
magnitude and dimmed its illustrious deeds; but the great 
mass of its voters are honest and patriotic, and every wrong 
done in the name of Republicanism is a libel upon its people. 

Pronounced as I am, alike in conviction and action, in sup- 
port of the principles, the policy, and the organization of the 
Republican party, I could accept no candidacy that would 
endanger Republican success in the Senate, or in the State or 
nation ; but, sharing your convictions that prompt and thorough 
reform in our municipal and State affairs must come by the - 
Republican party, or by its overthrow, I regard it ns the first 
duty of every member of the organization to enforce reform as 
the cardinal article of political faith. 



15 

There Avill be ii stubborn struggle in Philadelpliia, but it 
cannot long be a doubtful one. Men in -whotn the people do 
not confide have entrenched themselves in the channels which 
ordinarily give expression to great political bodies. They have 
invoked bad legislation to sustain worse acts, and are gradually 
wounding more and more deeply and deadly public respect, 
public credit and public safety. They mock the demand for 
the purity of the ballot, for an unjust registry law destroys all 
the usual wholesome checks upon election frauds, and they can 
defy public sentiment with impunity in the selection of candi- 
dates while they can manufacture results regardless of the 
votes cast. Until there is entire equality of rights enjoyed, 
and restraints exercised by both political parties in the manage- 
ment of elections, the tax-payers are practically disfranchised, 
and our city, with all its vast interests, must remain at the 
mercy of those who steadily increase its taxes and debt, and 
plunder its revenues. 

Our important offices immediately related to the business of 
the citizens confer most liberal emoluments when honestly 
administered, yet they are made sources of boundless oppres- 
sion, in insolent violation of law and in utter contempt of the 
rights of the people. Most important public trusts are created, 
wholly without responsibility to the public, and Avithout even 
the ordinary safeguards necessary to the protection of upright 
officers. The result is an enormous tax-rate upon the highest 
assessment of property in any city of the Union ; a debt of 
sixty millions and yearly increasing, and millions of dollars of 
city warrants dishonored in the hands of creditors. 

During some years of public service, I made fruitless efforts 
in both branches of the Legislature to arrest our pernicious 
system of special legislation. It has been the fruitful parent 
of venality and shame. When it proved to be impossible to 
limit legislation to general and uniform laws, I have for five 
years past, on every proper occasion, publicly and privately, 
urged a Constitutional Convention, for the purpose of enlarging 
our representation, restraining the legislative power over appro- 
priations, prohibiting all special and private enactments, and 



16 

requiring every measure to pass only upon a recorded affirma- 
tive vote of a majority of each house. We are now upon the 
threshold of attaining these reforms, and only a faithless Legis- 
lature can defeat them. When they shall have reached fruition, 
Philadelphia will be governed by her people, and not by legal- 
ized bands of political highwaymen. 

Personally I am indifferent, indeed reluctant, about attaining 
a place in the Senate; but if my humble services, either in the 
canvass or in the Legislature, can accomplish anything in 
restoring our city to economy, fidelity and justice, it is my duty 
to give them. I therefore accept the responsibility you have 
imposed upon me, and have so notified Colonel Gray, and 
requested him to meet me in joint discussion before the people 
of the District every night until the election. . 

Respectfully yours, &c., A. K. McCLURE. 



After accepting the popular nomination of the Reform Re- 
publicans, Mr. McClure at once addressed the following note 
to Mr. Gray, proposing joint discussions : 

Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 1872. 
Colonel Harry W. Gray. 

Sir: — Having been requested to become a candidate for 
Senator, by many Republicans of the Fourth District, who 
desire to effect a thorough reform in the management of the 
party in Philadelphia, and in municipal and State affairs 
generally, I beg to advise you that I have acceded to their 
request. 

There being no issue between us as to our plighted faith to 
give a consistent support to the Republication organization, in 
and out of the Legislature, on all vital questions, the one issue 
of local reform, embracing local, political and municipal re- 
generation, so far as legislation can affect it, becomes para- 
mount to all others. 

In order that we may be fully and fairly understood by the 



17 

people who are to decide between us, I respectfully propose to 
meet you in joint discussion in the most important localities of 
the district every night until the election. I shall be glad to 
meet you at once to make the necessary arrangements, so that 
we may begin by Wednesday evening. 
An early reply will much oblige 

Yours truly, 

A. k. McCLURE. 



The Democratic City Committee decided to present no can- 
didate, but recommended Mr. McClure because of his pledges 
in favor of municipal reform and honest election laws. 



The press of the city commented as follows on the issues and 
candidates. We copy from the Evening Telegraph of January 
29 th: 

'•The public press is at the same time the leader and the 
exponent of public opinion. The course taken by the journals 
of this city on the question of filling the vacancy in the State 
Senate is peculiarly significant. The disreputable manner in 
which* Mr. Gray was placed in nomination, and the unques- 
tioned abilities and sound principles of Colonel McClure, have 
combined to evoke from the people and the press alike an 
approach to unanimity which is seldom witnessed on such 
occasions." 

The Press is the only journal which has at any time 
unqualifiedly endorsed Gray's nomination. But the tide of 
public opinion has set so strongly against him that even the 
JPress, on the 27th, said : 

" It is evident from the correspondence between Colonel A. 
K. McClure and Colonel Barton H. Jenks, chairman of a 
committee of Bepublican citizens, that a very large and 
influential body of voters of the Fourth Senatorial District, 

2 



18 

parhaps the larger and more inSuential portion, are not 
satisfied with the nomination of Mr. Gray, the regular Re- 
publican nominee, and that their dissatisfaction will divide the 
energies and weaken the verdict of a strong Republican dis- 
trict, whose return determines the political voice of the State 
Senate." 

The Public Ledger, which does not encumber itself with 
partisan opinions, but is entirely independent, on the 22d 
said : 

" Swiftly following upon the scandalous events and sur- 
roundings of the recent Fourth District Senatorial Convention, 
comes the nomination of an Independent Republican Candidate 
by nearly a thousand Republican votei'S of that district. This 
is a most welcome sign of the wholesome state of public 
opinion brought about by recent events. The citizens who 
have united in this independent nomination have revolted 
against 'the violent abuses of the delegate system,' especially 
as they were developed by the late convention, and as they are 
otherwise manifested in supporting ' glaring evils ' in our State 
and municipal governments. In taking this position, and 
in holding the very proper view that, as the district is largely 
Republican in political sentiment, it should be represented by 
a member of that party, they have called on Alexancfer K. 
McClure, Esq., a well-known Republican opponent of these 
very abuses, and a man of recognized ability, to become their 
candidate. 

"It is a significant fact that four of the six pronounced 
Republican daily newspapers of the city have condemned the 
convention which nominated Mr. Gray, and have commended 
the independent action of the Republican voters who have 
nominated Colonel McClure, and only one recognized Re- 
publican organ has endorsed the convention and its operations. 

" Why should not the citizens of that district be represented 
by a Senator possessed of such qualifications ? There is no 
reason, except the tame submission heretofore manifested by 
the voters in obeying the mandates of ' Conventions,' chosen 



19 

as that convention was, and surrounded by just such pernicious 
influences. There is an opportunity now to test the assertion 
whether such ' delegates ' do represent such people as live 
within the Fourth Senatorial District, and whether such influ- 
ences are all-powerful. The defeat of the nominee of those 
'delegates,' and the election of his Independent Republican 
opponent, would strike a staggering blow to the system which 
is the prolific parent of nearly all the municipal and legislative 
evils which oppress the people of this city." 

The Imjuire?; vfhich is a strong Republican journal, although 
independent in its tone, has earnestly supported Colonel 
McClure from the start. On the 18th, the day after the con- 
vention which nominated Gray, it said : 

"In a district eminent for the intelligence, wealth and 
order of its citizens, the small political desperadoes, who are 
made potential by the various Rings which are disgracing and 
crippling the city, seem to have had entire possession of the 
primaries, and brute force alone gave success to the delegates 
in the contested precincts. It is not wonderful that primaries 
so conducted should add murder to the shameful disorder that 
reigned throughout the struggle. 

" The time is now for the people of the district to vindicate 
their good name, and protect the great interests by rallying as 
one man in support of the ablest and most experienced candi- 
date who can be got to make the contest. Self-respect and 
public duty demand that Philadelphia shall not be perpetually 
disgraced by ' Ring ' legislators, and her mighty interests made 
the mere plaything of bands of peculators." 

On the 24th the Inquirer said : 

" This contest is, when narrowed down to the real issue, one 
solely between the people and the Rings. If a fair election is 
had it will be determined which of the two is the stronger. 
The Reform candidate has every qualification for the position 
that the friends of Reform have nominated him for. He has, 
beside that, the entire confidence of the whole community. 
As to his politics, he is as good a Republican as his opponent, 



20 

and when a ' regular nomination ' is set up in a low groggery, 
and enforced by aid of ruffians using freely the bludgeon, knife 
and pistol, we do not conceive that it is entitled to quite the 
same consideration as is properly due to a nomination expres- 
sive of the real sentiments of the honest portion of the 
community. Of this latter sort was Colonel McClure's, and 
we believe that it will, as it should, receive the active support 
of every honest citizen of his district." 

And in a subsequent issue we find the following : 

" The issue of Tuesday is simply whether or not the election 
is to be an honest expression of popular choice or a triuniph 
for the ' Rings.' Between them and the people the battle is 
to be fought out, and should Colonel McClure be defeated, his 
defeat, if it will establish anything, will be the fact that the 
'Rings,' the rounders and repeaters, and not the citizens of 
Philadelphia, control the selection of officials." 

The Post, which has been inclined to be factiously Repub- 
lican, and to take the orders of the party leaders as law, has 
found the Gray business too much for it. On the 2-lth it 
said: 

" Colonel McClure's speech settles the question in the 
Fourth district. It leaves no choice between the two Repub- 
lican candidates, among the citizens who know and feel that 
the issue, far above all other issues in this canvass, is that of 
Municipal Reform. He has defined directly, definitely, unmis- 
takably, his position in regard to the evils under which our 
tax-payers groan, and the humiliations, not to be measured by 
pecuniary loss, against which the proud spirit of the people 
rebels. 

" The first objection made against Colonel McClure is that 
he is not the regular Republican candidate. This objection is 
met by the fact that the regular candidate was nominated by 
a convention Avhich did not represent the Republican voters, 
but which was notoriously a body self-constituted by the poli- 
ticians that composed it. It is also met by the fact that 



21 

Colonel Gray represents no principle of Republicanism that 
Colonel McClure does not represent. They may be assumed 
to stand upon an equality before the people so far as the 
political principles of the party are concerned. But they stand 
far asunder upon the immediate and pressing questions of the 
contest. 

"The issue, then, is between two Republicans — one pled^^ed 
beyond all recall or reservation to Reform ; the other pledged 
by gratitude and interest to oppose Reform. It is before the 
people of the Fourth district to decide, and we earnestly liope 
that they may be permitted to deciile it without the interference 
of corruption or violence. It is an important contest for 
Philadelphia, for it is the first contest which has squarely pve- 
seui.ed the question of Reform free from all political entan- 
glements." 

Again, on the 25th, the Post said : 

" We do not oppose the election of Mr. Gray because we 
like him less than his opponent. This is not a fight 
of individuals, but a fight of systems— a war for the restora- 
tion and the integrity of grand principles — a combat for the 
body and the sepulchre. If tiie toads that now occupy the 
seats of eagles suppose that the people are to be longer 
awed into submission by the elevation of 'party' forms and 
party 'rules' they will deceive themselves. The people have 
bowed before the fiat of tyranny and ignorance for the last 
time, and will even risk the shooting of the apple from a 
beloved head rather than continue such abject submission, d 
Mr. Gray is the creation of this system — its head and front 
— its hope and dependence." 

The Evening Bulletin, which is a straightforward, plain- 
spoken Republican journal, has opposed Gi"ay from the start, 
and for other reasons than his associations with the Building 
Commission. In its issue of the ^Oth, it said: 

"No one who reads the signs of the times can fail to see 
that there is, just now, an unusual and most significant condi- 
tion of the political atmosphere in Philadelphia. There has 



22 

been what is technically called a "regular" nomination of a 
Republican candidate for the vacant Senatorship in the Fourth 
district. But the candidates that were put before the conven- 
tion conducted that convention in such a discreditable style 
that there is a general revolt all along the Republican lines, 
and but one party paper, the Press, has endorsed the action of 
the convention, or signified any intention to support its candi- 
date." 

On the 24th, the Bulletin said: 

"We are unable to find room for a full report of Colonel A. 

K. jMcClure's able discussion of the local events involved in 

the Senatorial contest in the Fourth district. As was generally 

anticipated, his antagonist has failed to accept the courteous 

challenge to meet him before the people, and the Reform Repub- 

-lican candidate has, therefore, the whole argument of the case 

conceded to him. Colonel McClure's speech, last night, was a 

:frank, bold, and full exposition of his platform ; and it cannot 

sbe successfully denied that it embodies every true principle of 

rradical Republicanism. Mr. Gray, in failing to take up the 

gauntlet of his adversary, confesses his inability to meet him, 

and this confession will naturally have a powerful effect upon 

the minds of voters, who, in choosing between tAvo Republican 

candidates, will feel the importance of the preference for the 

one who has the ability to defend his principles in debate." 

The North American, which is a consistent Republican 
journal, but generally not very decided in its preferences or 
antagonisms, has declined to give Gray a hearty endorsement. 
The most that it does is to assail Colonel McClure because of 
his supposed opposition to the re-nomination of President Grant. 
On the 22d it said : — 

" In the opposition to the regular Republican nominee, which 
has found expression in the suggestion of several other names 
as independent candidates, and the origin of which is doubtless 
easily traced to Mr. Gray's prominent connection with the 
Building Commission, as we have already stated, the strongest 
movement yet made apparent is that in favor of Colonel Alex- 



23 

ander K. McClure, who, at the solicitation of a number of 
residents of the district, has consented to be a candidate for 
the phice. Of Mr. iMcClure's eminent abilities and thorough 
fitness for this, or any other public position, we cannot speak 
too highly. For years he has been recognized throughout the 
State of Pennsylvania, and indeed far beyond its limits, as a 
o-entleman of areat intellectual power, an astute politician, a 
ready debater, and a fearless advocate in any cause that he has 
favored. Thoroughly acquainted with our methods of legisla- 
tion, and familiar, by experience, with the duties of State 
Senator, we know of no man, who, under ordinary circumstances, 
would be a better representative of any constituency, nor one 
who could be more certainly relied upon to reflect credit upon 
those who elevated him." 

And, finally, the Age, the Democratic organ, on the 27th, 
said : — 

"Our 'Ring' is doomed. It cannot be that in this city the 
people will long submit to be sheared and plundered by these 
scoundrels. In the Fourth district, the 'Ring' candidate has 
no honest majority, even of his own party. With the Demo- . 
cratic vote ca^t against him, only the most sheer, gross, outra- 
o-eous frauds can give him the semblance of an election, and 
that can be tested afterwards, and exposed in the Senate. 
Colonel MeClure is a man of large mould of mind and body, 
to whom we have never had any personal antagonism. The 
pledges he has made in this canvass, in his public letter and 
speeches, are clear, plain, and satisfactory. He has received 
an endorsement from the better portion of his party, of which 
he may well be proud. In this election, in which the Democ- 
racy have placed no candidate in the field, they cannot do better 
than to vote for McClure." 

In its issue of the 29th, the Age, in referring to the suc- 
cessor of Senator Connell, said: — 

"He should be something more than a mere politician, ready 
for a job, no matter where located, or who may be affected by 
the operation. Mr. Gray is not the kind of a man required. 



24 

He is a member of the 'Ring,' was nominated by the 'Ring,' 
and will represent the 'Ring' at Ilarrisburg. In Councils he 
is a jobber. In the Building Commission he acted on the 
narrow ledge of self, and when he visited Ilarrisburg, it was 
for the purpose of passing some bill with a 'Ring' snake in it, 
not to benefit any of the great interests of the people among 
whom he was domiciled. This is a true portrait of Mr. Gray 
and his surroundings, and we repeat he is not fit to represent 
the solid interests of the people of the Fourth district, in the 
Senate. They are in favor of reform. He is opposed to it. 
He is for the 'Ring.' They are opposed to that corrupt 
organization. In a word, Mr. Gray is a politician, and the 
people of the Fourth district want a totally different man to 
represent them in the Senate. Such a man they will elect on 
Tuesday next. 

"Such is the voice of the press; that of the people of the 
Fourth district will bo in the same strain to-morrow, unless 
fraud and rascality are carried to the very polls." 



Mr. Gray, having made no reply to Mr. McClure's propo- 
sition for joint discussions, Mr. McClure took the stump on the 
following Tuesday evening, commencing at JNIorton Hall, and 
■Subsequently speaking in Germantown, Manayunk,Frankrord, 
Odd Fellows' Hall, 19th Ward, and Public Hall, 20th Ward. 
The speeches given, are taken from the reasonably full and 
accurate reports of the Morning Post. Before the close of 
the canvass, Mr. Gray published the following card, which is 
alluded to by Mr. McClure in his Frankford speech: 

Philadelphia, January 2G, 1872. 

Colonel A. K. McClure : 

Dear Sir: — I duly received your note of the 10th inst., 
advising me that you had been requested to become a candi- 
date for Senator by many Republicans of the Fourth district, 
who desire to effect a thorough reform in the manngement of 
the party in Philadelphia, and in municipal and State affairs 



25 

generally, and that you have acceded to their request, and 
inviting me to meet you in joint discussion on the issue of local 
reform, embracing local, political and municipal regeneration, 
so far as legislation can effect it. I did not reply to your letter, 
because my action, had I declined your invitation, might have 
been misconstrued, and to have accepted it, would, according 
to the terms of your letter, have involved a public consideration 
of our respective qualifications to be the champion of political 
pvubity and reform, and my duty to myself, and the great party 
I represent, would have required a review of the past which it 
would be unpalatable for you to listen to, and for me to utter. 
I had hoped, therefore, that the campaign would have been 
conducted with a due regard for the courtesies and proprieties 
which should govern gentlemen aspiring to become members 
of the Senate of Penns}'lvania. Since, however, you have 
realized the desperation of your position, and resorted as a 
forlorn hope, to a villification of my personal and political 
character in my own ward, and amongst my friends and neigh- 
bors, I feel that my delicacy for your feelings has been thrown 
away. In your published speech, a portion of which only was 
delivered at Germantown last night, I am accused of harbor- 
ing repeaters, of political infidelity, and of being opposed to 
Hon. Wm. D. Kelley. You seem to be exceedingly familiar 
with tlio ways and doings of repeaters, and the process of 
manipulating elections; but I desire to assure you that until I 
saw your printed speech this morning, I had not heard it even 
su"-<'-esteil, that an unfair or fraudulent vote was needed to keep 
the Fourth district in the ranks of the Republican party. Nor 
did I believe, even with my knowledge of your antecedents, 
that you would resort to extraneous help of this character; but 
your cry of "Stop thief!" has put me upon my guard, and I 
am obliged by your insinuations against my political infidelity 
to reply. 

Pardon mo if I suggest that you are incompetent to try that 
question. I was among the first handful of Republicans in this 
State, and subscribed to Republican principles, and voted for 



26 

the candidates before you found it profitable to join its successful 
army. During the recent campaign, involving not only the 
political complexion of the Legislature, to which you now 
aspire, but the vindication of your personal and life-long friends, 
you never uttered a word of encouragement, or wrote a line 
in their behalf. As to the charge that I sought a nomination 
against Judge Kelley, who was the regular nominee of my party, 
it is simply not true. I have always been his warm friend and 
supporter. How the suggestion, even if true, is an argument 
for your election, I am at a loss to see. The rules of the great 
party to which you profess to belong, regulate the manner of 
presenting the nominees of the party. You were a candidate. 
Your views were eloquently set forth over your own signature, 
and that document failed to procure you a solitary vote in the 
convention. Whether the fact that you were comparatively a 
stranger in the district, or on the other hand were too well 
known, was the cause of your defeat, 1 do not know. But I do 
know that you have since insisted upon being a candidate even 
at the risk of disrupting the Republican organization. When 
consistent and devoted party leaders like ray honorable oppo- 
nents, Christian Kneass, Jas. N. Marks and Samuel A. Miller, 
yield to the overwhelming demonstration which conferred the 
honors of the party upon me, how can you hope to filch from 
our organization a sufficient number of votes, which, added to 
those of the Democracy, of whom you are also to be a candi- 
date, will elect you to the Senate? 

You may be deluded by false hope. I am not deterred by 
fear. My capital is your record. 

Y'^ours, respectfully, 

H. W. GRAY. 



MORTON HALL SPEECH. 

(DELIVERED TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 23.) 

Fellow Citizens of the Reform Association: — I thank you for 
your kind invitation to address you, knoAving as I do that the 
meetinjT -was called for the transaction of business, and not 
with the view of giving any expression on the pending political 
contest. Having no views to conceal touching the questions 
the people of the Fourth Senatorial District must soon decide, 
I shall avail myself of the occasion to deal fully and frankly 
with the issues made so momentous by the vexed condition of 
our municipal afiairs. 

I have not entered thoughtlessly into this contest. I have 
well considered its grave issues, its graver responsibilities, 
and the desperate character and multiplied resources of the 
enemy. In the name of Republicanism the people of the 
Fourth District will be implored to deck with fresh garlands 
of apparent popular approval the venality of rings and the 
violence of the rounders. Did they come before you flaunting 
their true colors, declaring their real purposes, and exhibiting 
in naked truth the fruits of their rule, there Avould not be one 
honest vote of any party cast to sustain them. But they know 
that the people are honest in purpose, and sincerely devoted 
to the true principles of the Republican party. They therefore 
plant the standard of Republicanism in their midst, and stain 
its great achievements by studied wrong. An eagle soaring 
towards the sun, over the sandy plain, was indifferent to the 
volleys of musketry fired to arrest his flight. He was safe 
from the reach of their missiles of death, and he soared 
onward towards the divinity he worshipped. But a subtle son 
of the forest planted his gleaming arrow in the sand, so as to 
reflect the sunlight back to the heavens. The keen eye of the 
king of the air caught the dazzling I'ays reflected fiom tie 



28 

earth, and in his downward flight met the fatal shaft from the 
skilled bowman, who had lared him to death by the cunning 
counterfeit. It is so in this struggle. Republicanism, by its 
illustrious record of patriotism, of heroism, and of statesman- 
ship, is the political divinity of a large majority of the people 
of the Fourth District. When it is assailed by open fraud or 
treachery, or by direct assault, they can vindicate the integrity 
of their convictions and of their cause without wound or stain. 
But against the cunning, crawling vampires who hoist the 
Republican flag to conceal the wrongs which have made our 
muiucip.al affairs a common reproach, and to deceive faithful 
men into perpetuating their power, thousands of our best citi- 
zens have been lured from their lofty aims to off"er themselves 
as apparently willing sacrifices upon the altar of misrule and 
degrailation. 

I yield to none in devotion to Republicanism. I need not 
rest upon professions alone to claim Republican confidence. 
"When many of the rulers of the rings who assail me were 
reveling in the flesh-pots of successful Democracy, or unknown 
in the unrewarc'ed eff'orts then made for justice and truth, I was 
in the forefront of the battle — not for place nor for plunder, 
not for honors or emoluments, for these I really conceded to 
others; but for Republican victory in the city. State and nation. 
Ill the first successful national contest, I was honored with the 
post of greatest responsibility in this, the pivotal State of the 
battle. In the second, 1 represented the State at large to 
record its seal of approval of the lamented Lincoln; and in 
the last I was charged with casting the vote of the State for 
Grant and Curtin. In every struggle from the dawn of 
Republicanism until the crowning victory of 18(J8, however 
humble my eff"orts may have been, they were ever given in and 
out of season. I was not in the innumerable throng that 
crowded the Republican channels to office and profit. It was 
mine to battle and to sacrifice, it was for others to wear the 
laurels so dearly Avon. There are conflicts in which may be 
achieved higher honors and more enduring fame, than by gain- 
ing the titles of place, and they may be won and worn in per- 



29 

petual freshness by the humble as well as by the great. And 
there are titles, too, -which may be won unworthily and Avorn 
in shame, -whose fearful distinction is equally enduring. So 
far as Republicanism has justly conferred its honors, I have 
rejoiced. When it has been bowed in consuming shame by 
perfidious traffic in its important trusts, I have been wounded 
with my cause; but I was never of the competitors who 
triumphed or fell in the often bitter strife for personal advance- 
ment. For this cause I have given all the ardor of youth and 
all the vigor of manhood, and when its complete triumph was 
assured, after more than a decade of exacting effort, I retired, 
broken in health and fortune, to give my labor to those whose 
claims upon every citizen can be second only to the claims of 
his country. 

As an humble member of society, my political views are of 
little moment; but when claiming the suffrages of an intelli- 
gent people, it is their right and duty to know in what manner 
they may be represented. The citizen may be singular in his 
views on questions affecting the public, but the Senator or 
Representative can disobey the convictions of his constituents 
only with dishonor to himself. 

If chosen to represent you in the Senate, I would cheerfully 
and faithfully obey the wishes of the Republican party of the 
district on every question affecting their honor, their faith, 
their preferences and their just interests. Leaving, therefore, 
all questions of national and general moment within the 
Republican organization to the people to be reflected by their 
representatives, as action may be demanded, I turn to the vital 
questions which have made broad and irreconcilable issues 
between two Republican candidates for Senator. 

What are those issues? Let us look them in the face. Let 
us judge them by the painful past and the perplexing present. 
They are not new to any tax-payer; they are not unknown to 
any patriot; they cannot be ignored by any upright citizen. 
They affect the Republican party, because it is the party of 
power and the parent of existing error in our municipal admin- 
istration. It is the party of progress, of enlightened govern- 



so 

tnent, and its main hope of success is in deserving the confi- 
dence of a virtuous people. If it is made the abode, or the 
author, or the apologist of palpable wrong, it may for a brief 
time prefer forbearance to the severe ordeal of severing itself 
from those who defy public sentiment and public propriety in 
its name; but it must soon tear the festering cancer out by the 
roots, or it must die. It has forborne long — too long, as is 
confessed, in our city and State. It has allowed the dragon 
teeth to be sown by bad men, and is now appalled by the great 
harvest of oppressive taxes, of increasing debt, of dishonored 
credit, of irresponsible trusts controlling millions of public 
money, and of well-compensated officers exacting, with the 
right of the burglar, hundreds of thousands of dollars 
from the public under the very shadows of our temples of 
justice. Public wrongs ever grow in power until they pass the 
point of tolerance, and then they ever fall convulsively. The 
battle is always unequal between the contending powers of 
virtue and vice. The wrong-doers are never supreme in num- 
bers in civilized communities, but they are too often supreme 
in power. They will struggle at every step, while the better 
citizen retires in disgust or despair. Power is their one article 
of faith, plunder the one incentive of their every effort. With 
power, they have threats for the weak, theft for the venal, 
protection for the rounder, oppression for resentment, and 
flattery for fools. But such power always turns unconsciously 
upon itself. As the public forbears, it grows more and more 
insolent, daring and defiant, and gradually effaces the last 
semblance of respect for public opinion, exposes its long-mailed 
breast to the public scorn, and falls without worshippers. So 
Tammany fell in New York — the proudest, strongest and most 
skillful of public robbers — and its richly pensioned dependents 
heap obloquy upon its ruins. New York has redeemed herself, 
and just in time to escape the terrible maelstrom of municipal 
bankruptcy. Boston made reform a successful issue before 
the wound was vital, and Pittsburg has but recently swept over 
her petty imitators of Tammany a tempest of popular repro- 
bation. Philadelphia stands alone and exceptional in the 



31 

general redemption of our great cities, and she is now raising 
her strong arm to crush the bands that have mocked her people 
and brought reproach upon her good name. 

But I need not recite the well-known catalogue of public 
wrongs. 

Let us look at the vital, practical questions you are to 
decide. Whence have come these wrongs ? Where are the 
remedies ? I answer that special legislation, cunningly con- 
ceived by designing men, so as to conceal the real purposes, is 
the great fountain of the profligacy, misrule and corruption 
which obtain in our city ; and the parent wrong of all, to-day, 
is what is commonly known as the registry law. It Avas the 
last hope of those who dare not appeal to an honest people for 
approval. It, too, had virtue personated as its hand-maid. — 
Had its authors declared the truth, that it was framed with 
anxious, exhaustive care to defraud the people and defy their 
ballots, it would have been without honest supporters in the 
Legislature or in Philadelphia. But it was labeled as the 
enemy of repeaters and ballot stuffing, and with the battle-cry 
of honest elections, every safeguard for honest voters was ruth- 
lessly swept away. I here denounce it as a monstrous ini- 
quity, and I do not hesitate to declare that no just man, with 
an intelligent understanding of its provisions and operations, 
can offer even an apology for it, much less assume to defend it. 
In the inflamed partisan feeling that naturally lingered after 
the great struggle of the war and for its logical results, even 
fair men were misled to excuse the law, as it was supposed to 
give only the ordinary advantages of power to the party of 
power. But it was soon found to have been intended not merely 
to guard against Democratic wrongs, but to elect, or have 
declared as elected, men wanting in fitness and character in the 
Republican party ; and now the ring slates of candidates are 
openly avowed as much as a year before the people have even 
a pretended voice in the matter, and public opinion and per- 
sonal and political merit are ignored as matters not to be 
considered in the apportionment of oflBces of the greatest mo- 
ment to the public. Men live from year to year by extortions 



32 

made from candidates in the final division of lucrative posi- 
tions, and tliose who gain them in turn extort from the public, 
utterly regardless of the restraints of the law. When tlie peo- 
ple protest, and the press puts in an earnest plea for public 
decency in the dividing of the revenues of the people, the 
leaders scoif at the admonition, and point in triumph to the 
registry law as their certain safety. 

Need I point to the men on past tickets who would not have 
been thought of for the offices they now fill but for the regis- 
try law? Who of this audience does not know that the deep- 
est and most dangerous wounds the Republican party of Phila- 
delphia has ever received were inflicted by men who were em- 
boldened to do so by this unjust law, and Avho would to-day be 
the nominee of the Republican Conference for Senator, but 
for the rule and the power wielded by the authors and defend- 
ers of this law ? I cannot say who it would have been. — 
Certainly it would not have been me, for under ordinary cir- 
cumstances I should not have consented to become a candidate ; 
and certainly it would not have been Colonel Gray. If the 
whole machinery of elections was not now in the hands of men 
who feel that they can disregard public opinion with impunity, 
do you believe for a moment that it would have required five 
hundred hired roughs, half as many policemen, a varied assort- 
ment of rings, and a bountiful flow of money and whisky to have 
made a Republican nominee ? 

And would any man have been seriously considered as a 
candidate who was certain to provoke open Republican revolt, 
and the condemnation of almost the entire press of the city ? 
I have nothing unkind to say of the character or fitness of the 
gentleman who captured the Republican Conference, and calls 
himself the regular candidate. It is with the causes which 
created the candidate, and with the necessary identity of the 
candidate with those causes I have to deal, and being so irre- 
vocably identified with these seething cauldrons of public dis- 
order and public infamy, he must stand or fall with the issues 
such a debauched system of nominations would make. If it 
was believed that he would vote to modify the registry law 



33 

so as to give equal restraints to both parties, as common jus- 
tice demands, he wouhl be at once denounced by the very ele- 
ments that forced his nomination, and he would be driven from 
the field. lie appealed to this system and these elements to 
give him a nomination, and to them is he bound bj every con- 
sideration of gratitude and sympathy ; and if he shall even pro- 
mise reform, he must either deceive the men who nominated him 
for his and their purposes, or the people who have resented his 
nomination. The common honor that should make him true 
to his kindred fellows must make him the advocate of the reg- 
istry law. Under its provisions the politicians who have bound 
the Republican organization of Piiiladelphia hand and foot, 
have made the registration of the voters — rejecting whom they 
please, adding whom they please, voting whom they please, 
and counting what they please. 

Republican courts are denied the right to revise the action of 
these irresponsible political agents, even when holding in their 
hamls the dearest rights of citizens, and it is a notorious fact 
that there are to-day on the registry of this city thousands of 
fictitious names, placed there solely for the accommodation of 
professional repeaters, who add perjury when necessary to the 
accomplishment of voting early and often. In many localities 
an attempt to vote by an honest voter is a sheer waste of time 
and labor, and only entails peril for nought. Under the regis- 
try law the Democrats or Reformers have no voice in making 
election officers. The shameful mockery of justice is presented 
of Republican managers selecting Democratic judges and inspec- 
tors, and in many instances men are chosen entirely with 
recraid to their willingness to admit fraudulent votes, or make 
false returns for the men who dare not trust the honest suf- 
frages of Philadelphia. It is because these elements of power 
are in the hands of men who nominated a candidate for Sena- 
tor, that such a nomination was made; and while it is well 
known that a majority of the legal voters of the district will 
not sustain the nominee, it is meant to declare him elected, if 
human ingenuity is equal to the task of perpetrating frauds 



34 

of sufficient magnitude to make a certificate of election possi- 
ble. 

I have been told more than once by the ring leaders since I 
became a candidate, that it was folly to make this contest; that 
it matters not how the people vote, I have not a chance to be 
declared elected. In the insolence of long unrestrained power 
men seem to boast, without a blush, that they mean to pay no 
respect to the votes cast, but will count them as they wish, and 
vote whom they wish. I have answered all such, that it is 
time some one dared to accept the challenge of those who 
regard elections as mere forms to enable them to practice their 
expertness in frauds upon the elective franchise, and I decided 
to obey the call made upon me, and to make the issue directly 
to the intelligent and patriotic people of the district. Having 
accepted this responsibility, I here give notice to those who 
expect to be the heroes of fraud, that they shall not win by 
fraud ; that fraud shall not be unnoticed or unpunished ; that 
with a bold people aroused to a keen appreciation of their 
rio-hts, crime will cower and seek to hide before them, and will 
find no place of safety. If there shall be frauds perpetrated 
now, as is clearly possible and very probable, with the disposi- 
tion avowed and easy facilities afi"orded, let no mousing plun- 
derer of the ballot or hero of the repeaters presume that if 
they can win now the war will end. The war against perjury, 
and ballot-stuffing, and false returns, and false registrations 
has just commenced. It is and must be a war of destruction — 
a battle unto death ; and if they consider my defeat a supreme 
necessity, as they openly declare, let them exhaust themselves 
in their efforts to carry this election. I give them notice that 
no common measure of fraud will answer ; I will remind them 
that the greater they can make their frauds now, the more 
they will aid us in hastening their utter overthrow. I can 
conceive it possible for false voting and false returns to declare 
me defeated ; I can conceive it probable that, if so defeated, 
there may be fewer criminals at large to debauch the next 
election ; but I cannot conceive it possible for an honest, earn- 
est people to grapple Avith fraud and not speedily overthrow it 



35 

and hurl upon its authors the terrible retribution of popular 
hate and outraged laws. 

There is a simple remedy for this blistering blot upon our 
body politic in a just modification of the Registry law. It is 
not to be denied that frauds have usually, more or less, char- 
acterized party rule in this and other cities, under the direc- 
tion of both parties; but it must stand confessed that the most 
ingenious and exquisite perfection of election frauds has been 
attained under the present Registry law in Philadelphia. It 
must be essentially and justly modified. A proper law of the 
kind is a necessity, but it must restrain fraud, not invite 
it : it must put in the power of each party the selection of its 
own officers ; equal control over the votes when they are to be 
counted and returned, and future murders and disorder should 
be prevented by requiring the result to be declared under the 
protection and direction of the court. Return judges would 
not then come bristling with pistols and knives ; hired roughs 
would not attempt to destroy the returns ; false certificates 
would not be issued to give a prima facia right to oflices upon 
flimsy pretexts ; cognizance could be taken at once of palpa- 
ble wrong, and all papers relating to returns could be brought 
before a proper tribunal for proper adjudication. The man 
who objects to modifications of the law substantially as I have 
indicated, does not mean to be honest, and dare not be just, — 
They have been advocated at one time or another, by every 
Republican journal in Philadelphia. All of them, without an 
exception, have been compelled to protest against the manage- 
ment of the party under the law. In the Legislature last win- 
ter, Mr. Elliott, now Speaker of the House, Mr. Johnston and 
Mr. Miller, all above reproach in their legislative careers, pub- 
licly declared themselves in favor of a modification of the law ; 
but the rings ruled with the majority, a caucus was called, and 
upon the plea of those who could not be honestly elected, that 
a just registry would defeat the Republican party, the fair men 
of the delegation were gagged, and compelled to vote as the 
ballot-stuffers dictated. To the credit of Mr. Miller be it 
said, that he obeyed his conscience and disregarded the caucus, 



36 

and he will be honored for it. While I should obey the decision 
of the Republican organization, if a Senator, on all proper 
questions of party policy or candidates, I would pay no 
respect to a caucus that required me to maintain a law so 
flagrantly unjust as is (his one, and I would not obey a caucus 
on questions looking to the defeat of the various municipal 
reforms demanded by the interests of the people. 

Just election laws and just representation are the corner- 
stones of successful free government. Without them our 
boasted Government "of the people, by the people, and for 
the people" is essentially a failure. When the ballot-box is 
corrupted, the whole theory of popular rule is subverted, and 
when just representation is denied by unnatural and unequal 
laws to those who for the time happen to be in the minority, the 
wholesome restraints of minorities are destroyed, and all parties 
are taught that the most sacred principles on which our fathers 
founded our Government can be disregarded with impunity. The 
genius of popular liberty is assailed by every assault that is 
made by power upon the free and effectual expression of the 
whole people, and confidence in, and respect for our Govern- 
ment, are necessarily impaired. A government, whose safety 
and success depend wholly upon the people, cannot be de- 
graded to the violence of extreme partisan rule without sowing 
the seeds of decay and death. If one party corrupts the ballot 
and denies just representation and power in our State and 
National councils to the other, the certain mutations of politi- 
cal success invites retaliation upon those who have wielded 
power unwisely, and there is danger of perpetual wrong ; of 
steadily poisoning the very fountain of our sovereignty, and 
of paralyzing the nobler efforts of patriotic and just men. If 
I cannot be made a legislator by votes honestly cast and 
counted, the position of the private citizen shall be the one of 
my choice; and if there are those in the district who object to 
the most effectual restraints upon election frauds, or to just 
representation, they should not vote for me. My observations 
of the last few years have profoundly impressed me with the 
importance of the amplest protection to the rights of minori- 



37 

tio5 ; for, exempt as they are from the temptations of power, 
their restraints are most salutary — indeed, most essential to 
the purity and safety of our institutions. 

As we are just on the threshold of a constitutional conven- 
tion, I would not propose to legislate in behalf of minority 
representation by cumulative voting ; but I would insist in the 
preliminary legislation for a convention, that there shall be 
submitted to the people, as a separate proposition, such a 
change in our fundamental law as will guarantee the just 
restraints of minorities in all our departments of representative 
power. Thus far we liave solved every problem growing out 
of a free government of vast domain and of conflicting tastes, 
convictions, and interests : and as avc have passed in safety 
every peril that beset us, the world has wondered and gro^Mi 
better and wiser because of our succoss. The liberal tenden- 
cies of the governments of the Old World to-day are the legiti- 
mate fruits of successful free institutions in the New World. 
When the sore trial of fraternal war, as exhausting anl 
sanguinary as it was causeless, came upon us, the hopes of 
despotism were inspired afresh ; but as we emerged from the 
flame and tempest of battle with regenerated liberty antl 
justice, and our patriotism chastened by the terrible crucible 
of sacrifice, the whole world was taught that liberal progress 
was its destiny. We have met and vanquished the declared 
enemies of free government, and we have now but to preserve 
its integrity by maintaining the well defined checks and 
balances which vindicate the crowning wisdom of the foundeis 
of the Republic, and the safety, the growth, the perfection of 
free government will be assured for ourselves and for our 
posterity. 

There arc few citizens of Philadelphia who will not be 
startled Avhen they come to look squarely at the rapid strides of 
irresponsible power in our municipal afiairs. Our system of 
special legislation is the easy channel by which the raiment of 
the people has been parted by banded speculators. They did 
not avow their purpose, nor did they shock the public sensi- 
bilities by wresting the power of the people from them in one, 



38 

or even a dozen efforts. Had tliey done so, there Tvould have 
been revolt, and the rings would have been overthrown. But 
ingeniously drawn special laws, with equally ingenious argu- 
ments to support them, proposing some wise and acceptable 
object, have from time to time been enacted, and as the people 
slept they were shorn of their locks. Look around Philadel- 
phia. How are its great powers wielded ? How is the great 
proportion of its revenues expended ? Who selects its most 
important agents? And what restraints are or can be exer- 
cised by the people to protect themselves against growing taxes 
and debt? Look at our chief departments, wielding almost 
the whole political and financial power of the city government, 
and answer for yourselves whether the tax-payer has any pro- 
tection against improvidence or fraud. Does any sane man 
suppose for a moment that the entire absence of popular or 
official restraints upon these organizations is a series of acci- 
dents in framing the laws ? By no means. They were each 
in turn, as popular forbearance would allow, deliberately 
drawn to divest the organizations of every possible restraint, 
and every attempt of the people to enforce accountability has 
been resisted by the combined power of most of these trusts. 
To-day the tax-payers are without remedy, unless the Legisla- 
ture will interpose its supreme power. Even the legislative 
power of the city is finally ignored in public expenditures of 
great magnitude, and enormous taxes may be imposed and 
gathered without the formality of an ordinance. Your Councils 
and Maj'or are presumed to be able to shield you from exces- 
sive taxation, but the continued tolerance of irresponsible 
trusts has invited bolder measures, and now, if the courts obey 
the intent and meaning of the laws, taxes may be levied and 
their collection enforced by mandamus for public improve- 
ments, and the people and their local government are voiceless 
and powerless to prevent it, or even to enforce that measure 
of accountability that is essential alike to public confidence and 
official vindication. I do not assume, and do not believe, that 
all the men who have accepted such positions in Philadelphia 
are dishonest; but I do assume that honest purposes have not 



30 

usually dictated such legislation, and that honest men have 
not as a rule sought to have such powers conferred, and it is 
sadly true that the ruling element of most of these trusts 
mainly desire personal aggrandizement, and the sources of 
political power necessary to enable them to defy the people in 
any struggle for their overthrow. Our valuation of property 
for taxable purposes is the highest of any city in the Union in 
proportion to its market price, and our taxes are to-day the 
highest imposed upon any people for municipal purposes. 
True, large sums were expended for war purposes ; but the 
surrounding counties did the same, and have paid their in- 
debtedness without oppressive taxation. If our city credit 
was preserved and our debt gradually reduced, as it should 
be, and as our laws evidently demand, with the improvements 
in progress that are essential to the comfort and prosperity of 
the city, there would be but little cause for complaint. But 
our public money has been used for speculative purposes until 
startling defalcations aroused the people and Councils to 
action. Our city warrants are dishonored at the Treasury to 
the extent of millions, and our debt is growing by millions 
from year to year. It is clear to any intelligent citizen that a 
large proportion of our taxes is worse than wasted, and the 
money thus plundered from the people is employed at every 
election to increase the power of the plunderers and defy the 
protests of the tax-payers. 

I submit that it becomes not only the people, but their rep- 
resentatives in the Legislature, to inquire where the millions 
of wasted or stolen resources are absorbed. When we look 
for profligacy or fraud to avert it, we find but few channels 
through which large amounts of public money are expended, 
within the reach of either the people or the laws, and the tax- 
payers turn from the unequal contest in despair. 

That all the trusts of Philadelphia should be brought under 
the immediate cognizance of the people, and that every possible 
means should be within the reacli of the tax-payers to enforce 
the fullest exposition and accountability, are not only pro- 
positions that under all circumstances would be just, but they 



40 

are, under existing circumstances, a supreme necessity. If 
this -were done, as it must be done, sooner or later, t];c faith- 
less citizen would not seek to fill these places, for the chief 
profit would be the approval of an upright people; our neces- 
sary improvements Avould be made promptly and economically ; 
our people would not be humilitated by the disgraceful con- 
flicts of competing confederated rings for public jobs; our public 
debt and our taxes would be diminished, and the headqunrters 
of these organizations would not be, as they are, as a rule, to- 
day, the centres of political management to defeat, by repeat- 
ing, ballot-box stuffing, and false returns, the election of legis- 
lators pledged to proper checks upon all public expenditures. 
Equally disgraceful and oppressive to our city are our offices 
relating to estates, records, and public justice. Our courts 
are confessedly pure, and in all respects most reputable, but 
under their very shadow, although not under their control, from 
half a million to a million dollars a year are literally extorted 
from the people. It falls so generally upon the community that 
but few feel provoked to the point of resisting a power so 
armed for resentment. If the officials who thus plunder the 
public would pocket the ill-gotten gains and the evil there end, 
the most alarming consequences of this blot upon our public 
officers would not be felt. Instead of being merely individual and 
lawless oppression of those who have business to transact, it 
has become a complete and most formidable system, that 
strengthens itself by constant appeals to the cupidity of the 
hundreds of desperate politicians who are promised the succes- 
sions or a division of the illegal profits. The system becomes 
a controlling element in the primary direction of the dominant 
party, and, with its thousand unseen sinews of power, and its 
innumerable streams of debauchery, it is ever potent in political 
primaries, and, with the Registry law, is omnipotent in declar- 
ing the results of our election. Until our Registry law is 
made to conform to the demands of justice; our servants 
brought to proper accountability ; our Row offices salaried, and 
illeo-al charjres made impossible; wholesome restraints placed 
upon the taxing power of the. city, and the scores of needless 



41 

offices created solely for the benefit of Ring politicians entirely 
abolished, it ■will be vain to hope for substantial ref<)rm. It 
will be promised no\Y, in grateful generalities, as it has been 
promised in the past, and it will ever be promised in the future, 
and as did one of olden time promise to deliver great posses- 
sions he did not and could not own ; but until there is an 
utter overthrow of the Avhole system of corrupt power and its 
advocates, Philadelphia must suffer fresh oppression and dis- 
grace from year to year. 

I have long advocated the limitation of the power of the 
Legislature to general laws. Five years ago I publicly ui-ged 
a constitutional convention as the only means of effecting indis- 
pensable reforms in our legislation. In an elaborate article 
published by me on the 23d of January, 1867, in the Cham- 
bersburg Repository, I said : 

" '•Reform the Legislature by the election of upright men,' " 
respond all who, with the affectation of integrity, Avish corrup- 
tion to maintain its sway. We answer it cannot be done. It 
has been tried, time and again, and it has signally failed. AVe 
have seen, and served in, Reform Legislatures, and the only 
perceptible difference was the increased license to debauchery 
assumed by the reformers because of their supposed standing 
at home. It is idle to attempt reform by any such process. 
But few who have the stern integrity for such an effort will 
undertake the thankless task, and supple reformers, who are 
demoralized by the very hope of contact with peculation, are 
ever ready to proclaim their oAvn virtue to the people, and 
betray them by a double fraud. 

"There is one simple, practical, effectual remedy: and if the 
people move in earnest they can enforce it. The reform must 
be radical — it must be fundamental. A Constitutional con- 
vention, and that only, can reach the terrible disease, and it is 
attainable at any time the Legislature shall submit the ques- 
tion of a convention to popular decision. It should be 
demanded by petitions, by delegations, by mass meetings, by 
the manly utterances of an unshackled press, until even the 



42 

corruptionists themselves shall bow to the thunder of their 
masters. Let them demand a convention to incorporate in 
their organic law provisions substantially as follows: 

1. That the Senate shall consist of one hundred members, 
to be chosen by single districts. 

2. That the House of Representatives shall consist of four 
hundred members, each to be elected in a single district. 

3. That all legislation relating to corporation interests shall 
be by general laws, and that no special charter or corporate 
privileges whatev6r shall be granted but by the courts. 

4. That there shall be no special appropriation of money 
from the treasury to claims except upon a judicial finding. 

5. That the members of the Legislature shall be paid five 
dollars per day, for the period of sixty days; and be pro- 
hibited from appropriating to themselves any additional sum 
for protracted sessions, or for extra or adjourned sessions, be- 
yond sixty days in the year. 

6. That no subordinate ofiicers shall be appointed in either 
branch, or receive any compensation for services, unless a bill 
shall have been passed by both branches creating the office 
and defining its duties. 

7. That no bill shall pass either branch without receiving 
a majority of the whole vote on a call of the yeas and nays." 

I stood then almost alone in the movement, and I appealed 
in vain to my leading Republican associates to give the high 
sanction of the party to the measure. Why it was opposed I 
need not here discuss, but the character of the men selected to 
lec^islate for our great State was the chief impediment to its 
adoption. Again, on the 5th of August, A. D. 1870, I pub- 
lished in the Inquirer^ of this city, a letter over my own 
sio-nature, in which I earnestly urged a Convention, to enable 
the people to check the evils of special legislation by funda- 
mental prohibition. In that letter I said : 

"•Every means short of fundamental limitation of the powers 
of the Legislature have been tried ineflfectually to redeem our 



43 

State from the stain and peril of corrupt enactments, and all 
intelligent and honest men now confess that the only remedy 
for this hideous and growing cancer upon the body politic is in 
a convention to revise the Constitution of the State. 

" Tlic reforms most needed, which can be attained only by 
a convention, are: 

" The increase of the number of legislators. * * * In 
all States where there are large legislative bodies corruption 
has never gained the ascendancy. Most of the New England 
States forcibly illustrate this fact. 

" Legislative powers should be restricted to general laws.- 
All private remedies should be in the courts, and all appropria- 
tions by private bills prohibited. * * * 

"All legislators elect should be required, in qualifying, to 
be sworn that they have not, directly or indirectly, had or 
promised anything of value to influence votes to elect them, 
and tliat they have not received, and will not receive, anything 
of value in consideration of any official act. 

"The State Treasurer should be elected by the people, and 
the public funds placed beyond the reach of private specula- 
tion. * * * 

"Vote for no man for the Legislature, however nominated, 
who will not pledge himself to favor a convention, and vote for 
no man, however nominated, or however pledged, whose tried 
integrity is not an ample guarantee of his fidelity as a repre- 
sentative. Such action on the part of the people will give us 
a convention, and the convention is the last hope of reform." 

In the sum.mer of 1871 I had frequent consultations and 
correspondence with prominent men of both parties on the 
subject, and before the meeting of the Legislature spent several 
days with our late honored and lamented Senator, Mr. Connell, 
in perfecting a bill to be presented to the Senate by him. He 
was faithful in the great eflTort for State reform. In order to 
meet different views in the Legislature, Ave each drew a com- 
plete bill, essentially alike on vital points, but differing in 
details, and both were published in the public journals, and 



44 

read in place at Harrisburg. These bills were intended to secure 
an early convention, and not to deceive the people by profess- 
ing to favor reform and persistently postponing it. They 
provided for the election of delegates last spring, at the same 
time the people should vote for or against a convention, for it 
■was well known that the vote would be overwhelmingly in its 
favor. Senator Connell made a manly struggle for such a 
bill, by which, had it been adopted, a constitutional convention 
would have met last September, and we would now be about to 
adopt its reforms. But he was overruled, and the demands of 
the people were met by the mockery of submitting the naked 
question of a convention to them last October. Two more 
years of special legislation were thus secured by those who 
hoped to profit thereby. Reform will be postponed this year 
on the plea that it is inexpedient to vote upon amendmerits to 
the Constitution in the heat of a Presidential contest ; and 
when that pretext shall have served its purpose, the great 
interests involved in special legislation can readily frame some 
new excuse, if a willing Legislature is at hand. The general 
security and prosperity of all interests, corporate and indi- 
vidual, and the harmony of capital and labor clearly demand 
the limitation of our legislation to general laws, equally avail- 
able for all, and the denial of special privileges to any. While 
privileges are special, and within the power of the Legislature 
to confer, there must be grave abuses and wide-spread distrust 
and antagonism between our various elements of industry and 
energy. 

Citizens of Philadelphia! I have accepted this contest con- 
scious of its responsibilities, and of the unequal nature of a 
conflict between the people and confederated bodies of men 
with bad laws and sources of corrupt and corrupting power at 
their command. But Tammany, the queen of municipal 
harlots, has fallen, and fallen without hope; and in Philadel- 
phia her awkward but willing imitators are about to make their 
most desperate rally. In their last convulsive throes of death 
they will do much to deepen the stains with which they have 
blotted the good name of our city, but the end is nigh at hand. 



45 

That a large majority of the legal votes cast on Tuesday next 
•will be in favor of the measures I have advocated no one 
doubts; that fraud will be nerved to gigantic effort to defeat 
the expression of the people is equally undoubted; but we 
greet the dawning day of reform, as the aroused virtue of the 
people gleams in hopeful rays through the darkness that has 
overshadowed us, and it must soon break in its noon-tide 
splendor. Let the banners of the people stream from every 
battlement, and from every faithful citizen let the slogan come: 
" Office-holders to the rear — tax-payers to the front.'' [The 
speech was frequently interrupted by applause.] 



GERMANTOWN SPEECH 

(DELIVERED THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY '25.) 

Colonel McClure reviewed the registry law with the same 
bold and incisive criticism that characterized his Morton Hall 
address, and pointed out with distinctness and merited denun- 
ciation, the defects and abuses of the law, and its employment 
as an instrument to disfranchise the honest voters of the city. 
He asked, why should our election laws be exceptional? That 
peculiar stringency may be necessary in the provisions of a 
law applicable to great cities, may be true; but if so, there is 
great necessity for peculiar restraints upon those who may for 
the time be in control of our elections. If frauds are so rife 
in our city under ordinary election laws, we should not merely 
restrain one party and give the other party the power to make 
our elections a mockery and a fraud. 

It is confessed by the leaders of the rings which now so 
madly rule our city, that if the Registry law is so modified 
as to restrain fraud equally in all parties, their rule is ended. 
Hence this desperate conflict. If they are hedged about with 
honest election laws, their partition of offices and plunder made 
for the future would be broken up, and they would not dare to 



46 

present their favorites to the people for popular approval. 
Our public trusts, so far as they are banded with the violent 
and defiant organizations of the citj, would be brought to 
strict accountability, and the use of our revenues would be zeal- 
ously scanned by faithful accounting officers elected by the 
tax-payers. In short, the destruction of the unjust features 
of the Registry law is the destruction of the rule of disorder 
and corruption in our midst, and the restoration of the people 
to supreme power over their own aifairs. 

Already the men opposed to the movement for reform stand 
self-convicted of wrong, and in their terror of the condemnation 
of the people, they have hastened to make an appearance of 
deference to outraged public sentiment. Observe that two 
days ago, just when the struggle was inaugurated, the ring 
appealed to the Legislature to arrest the swelling tide of 
popular revolt by professing to modify the registry law.; I say 
professing to modify it, for it is not intended to make honest 
election laws while it is possible to prevent it. Fearing to 
come before the people to defend this law in a contest where it 
was certain to be assailed with all the power of earnestness 
and truth, they come with gifts to appease the wrath of those 
they have so long betrayed. Note the discussion on the Registry 
law in the Senate on Tuesday last. Not a Republican voice 
was raised to declare it just — all, all admitted its glaring defects, 
and confessed the necessity of its modification so as to restore 
some measure of restraint to the minority. Note the fact that 
the Republican Senator from Philadelphia, (Mr. Davis,) has- 
tened to excuse, but not to justify the law, and that the Senator 
from Indiana, (General White,) an aspirant for Gubernatorial 
honors, seconded the admissions of the city Senator, and there was 
not one Republican so bold as to say that it should stand in all 
its present deformities. The bill was passed finally, only three 
votes against it, with most essential and Avholesome modifica- 
tions, although not all that justice demands. 

I do not charge that Senators are in any way parties to a 
contemplated fraud upon the people of this city touching the 
Registry law, but I do say that this movement has been hastened 



47 

by trembling politicians of this city, who mean to profess to 
modify the law, but mean also that no actual modification shall 
be made. Already we see the ring politicians confessing the 
growing poAver of popular opinion, and they feel that they must 
propitiate the people, or be defeated in the contest ; and if 
defeated in this strunrgle, thev are overthrown. 

I charge that this movement now hastened in the Legislature 
is a deliberate fraud upon the people. These are harsh words, 
but the occasion calls for them. Notwithstanding the action 
of the Senate, the Registry law will not be modified this session 
if Colonel Gray is chosen, or successfully counted in, as 
Senator. The House will not pass it, with the Republicans 
bound by a caucus, and that caucus to be guided by a majority 
of the Republican delegation from Philadelphia. The Demo- 
crats offered the Republicans the prompt and entire organiza- 
tion of the Senate the first day of the session, if they would 
assent to the modifications of the law which I have advocated ; 
and it was refused. If they have changed their mind and now 
intend to give us honest election laws, why do they not pass 
through both branches of the Legislature at once, the amend- 
ments demanded ? If they were to do so, they would remove 
a large measure of the causes which have made Republicans 
revolt in this Senatorial contest. It would probably make 
many less anxious for my election, for one of thechief fountains 
of corrupt power would belong to the past; but they will not, 
dare not do it, for it would be the act of a suicide. Ichallencre 
the delegation from Philadelphia to prove me incorrect in this 
prediction, for I should be glad to acknowledge that I was in 
error, and glad, also, to have such rich and early fruits of the 
efi'orts for reform. If I shall be chosen to the Senate, or 
rather if I shall not be violently defrauded out of an election, 
the Registry law will then be made a just law, with equal privi- 
leges and restraints conceded to both parties, for the reason 
that no man who votes against such amendments can withstand 
the united power of an aroused people. Wrong is ever defiant 
until it is discomfitted, and then it forcibly illustrates the 
fact that cowardice is an inherent element of crime. When 



48 

the tax-payers shall have once triumphed over these confederated 
and uascrupulous powers in Philadelphia, the rings will 
surren er, and the rounder's occupation Avill be gone. 

Colonel McClure then discussed the gradual assaults made 
upon the power of the people by special legislation, creating 
irresponsible trusts. They have grown in number and privileges 
until nearly the whole expenditures of the city are made by 
men without accountability to the people or to the laws, and 
taxes may now be wrung from the tax-payers without even the 
formality of an ordinance. lie declared in favor of such 
legislation as would bring our public trusts within the searching 
scrutiny of the people, and make them accept the fullest 
accountability. He also discussed the row offices, and 
pronounce 1 the extortions practiced upon the people as intol- 
erable, and the whole system by which they are administered, 
as entirely subversive of personal and political integrity. The 
remedy he declared to be the enactment of a law fixing 
liberal salaries for performing the duties, imposing severe 
penalties, including removal from office, for extortion and the 
appropriation of certain revenues in the city treasury. 

But, said Colonel McClure, it is charged that I am distracting 
the Republican party. I had hoped to meet Col. Gray face to 
face before you, to discuss this, and other questions raised in 
the contest. Knowing that he is a public speaker of some 
pretension, I courteously asked him to join me, and let the 
people judge between us. He made the first speech that was 
made in the canvass before the conference of policemen and 
delegates that nominated him, and I am free to say that it was 
a better speech than I could have made — certainly abetter one 
than I could have made before such an audience. [Laughter.] 
I mailed a letter to him, and lest it might miscarry, I published 
it in the daily papers. Since then I have not met or heard 
from Colonel Gray. Perhaps he is out of town, [laughter,] 
where Philadelphia newspapers are not to be found, and his 
address may not be known to his friends. Or it ma}' be that 
he is busy extending his individual hospitality to a number of 
distinguished strangers, who are now visiting our city. I mean 



49 

the eminent and expert captains of repeaters, who have been 
imported from New York and Baltimore to spend a few days 
with us. [Laughter and applause.] They are here, or have 
been here, in close consultation with kindred spirits from every 
part of the city, and as they have not been invited to a reception 
in Independence Hall, or to meet the Corn Exchange, or the 
Union League, it was incumbent on some one to extend them 
welcome and hospitality. They did not call on me, [shouts of 
lauo-hter,] or I should have seen that they were provided with 
appropriate city accommodations. But they did call on Colonel 
Gray, or his lieutenants, and have made arrangements to bring 
a number of their friends to visit us very early next week, 
when I propose to relieve Colonel Gray by taking eminently 
proper care of them. [Laughter.] 

Of course Colonel Gray may have been busy in the exercise 
of this hospitality, and I think it due to him to offer the best 
excuse I can for his failure to be on the stand with me to-night. 
[Laughter and applause.] I know that if he were here he 
would resent the allegations of inconsiderate friends that I am 
.not as faithful a Kepublican as himself. He knows that I have 
been called into the field as a Republican and by Republicans, 
while he was made a candidate by a motley mixture of Fourth 
.Ward pet lambs, banded bouncers and rounders, a regiment of 
policemen and a few delegates, some of whom had been chosen 
after a fashion at primary elections. [Laughter.] Then 
Colonel Gray would not allow such injustice to be done me, for 
the very good reason that he holds to the largest liberty and 
freedom in politics. He has tried almost every phase of poli- 
tical independence, and he "knows how it is himself." 
[Laughter.] I battled against Democracy when he was a 
Democrat ; I battled against President Johnson when he was a 
Johnson man, [laughter;] and I battled for Judge Kelley when 
he begged the Democrats to take him as their candidate for 
Congress against Judge Kelley. [Shouts of laughter and 
applause.] Now do not understand me as criticising Colonel 
Gray's political record, [laughter,] for I desire to vindicate his 
political and individual independence. [Shouts of laughter.] 
4 



50 

He had a perfect right to be a Democrat when Democracy was 
successful, and he had a perfect right to cease to be a Demo- 
crat when Democracy ceased to be successful. [Laughter.] I 
have examined the Constitution and laws of our State on this 
question, and 1 do not hesitate to declare that Colonel Gray 
was exercising no more than his constitutional and inalienable 
rights in always supporting a winning party. [Laughter.] 
And if President Johnson had old clothes to distribute, where 
is the law, statutory or fundamental, that prohibits him from 
dealing in soiled political garments, such as President Johnson 
dispensed? His right to do so cannot be questioned, and who 
knows, besides, but that the purest and most self-sacrificing 
patriotism may have made him look with favor upon Johnson? 
Somebody had to fill the ofiices and accept the responsibilities 
of Johnson's patronage, or the Government would have been 
stopped. [Laughter.] Its machinery would have become dis- 
jointed and the Government of the people might have perished 
from the earth. [Laughter.] If he was actuated by high and 
holy convictions of duty in supporting President Johnson, as I 
am bound to assume he did, let us accord him the credit due 
the patriot for doing so. That he got no office from the acci- 
dental President was not his fault; therefore he is not to blame. 
[Shouts of laughter.] The country did not need him, and the 
republic was again ungrateful; but so it has been with Clay 
and Webster. [Laughter.] When popular reprobation placed 
the clammy seal of death upon Johnsonism, Colonel Gray 
followed the scriptural injunction to "Let the dead bury the 
dead." [Shouts of laughter.] When he appealed, by letter, 
addressed to certain Democrats, to become a Johnson-Demo- 
cratic-Republican-My-Policy candidate for Congress against 
Judge Kelley in 1866, the Spartan band of Thermopylae did 
not display more heroism. [Laughter.] He could not have 
dreamed of an election, for that would have been idiotic. It 
was a monument of his unflinching political independence. 
That the Democrats would not accept him as their candidate 
only shows in what sinuous and thorny paths he trod to vindi- 
cate the constitutional right of the citizen to off"er to run for 



51 

any office, whether anybody wants him to run or not. [Shouts 
of laughter.] If the Democrats had accepted his offer, and he 
had run against Ju<lge Kelley, and had been elected, who 
can portray what might have been the destiny of the country ? 
Judge Kelley would now probably be running a peanut stand, 
[laughter,] and our statesmanship would be a profession. But 
that intended record of unfledged greatness is void and voice- 
less, but the political independence of Col. Gray is untarnished. 
Nor did he confine his practical teachings or untrammeled 
political thought to any one community. He was migratory 
in his habitations, as he was in his political convictions. When 
the people of the Second District would not send him to the 
Senate, but defeated him after an exhausting contest, why 
should he stay with them? The whole world was his theatre 
of action and he entered the Fourth District as an itinerant 
political missionary, ready to labor and sacrifice in any public 
office that might be thrust upon him. [Laughter,] He has 
already reluctantly accepted from a more reluctant people a 
seat in Councils, and would now serve in the Senate, but for 
the simple fact that he won't be elected. [Laughter and cheers.] 
Colonel Gray not being on the stand to vindicate himself, 1 
have said so much in defence of his manly changes of opinions 
and actions. Although I mostly diff'ered from him in the inde- 
pendent variations of his political line of action, and opposed 
Johnson, and always sustained the policy and candidates of 
the Republican party, I feel confident that he would vindicate 
me, if he were speaking, with the same fidelity I have shown 
in defending him. So far from complaining that I am running 
for the Senate, he would say that he always supported what 
party he preferred; that he always run, or tried to run, for 
every office he desired; and that he is glad I am running for 
Senator, as it will prevent a vacancy in the important ^Council 
chamber of the city. [Laughter and applause.] Already his 
nomination, if it may be so called, has caused one vacancy in 
the Building Commission, and must confusion be flung into all 
the departments of the city because of a senatorial election? 
The unsophisticated Hill, who blundered over Kneass on to 



52 

Colonel Gray for Senator, has been blundered back over Gray 
into the vacancy in the Commission; and as John Price 
Wetherill, a name deservedly honored in Philadelphia, fell out 
of the line, Mr. Walker, Chairman of the Finance Committee 
in Councils, fell in as naturally as tail from tadpole leaves 
frog. [Laughter.] Mr. Hill, having had thrust upon him, by 
a most thoughtful Legislature, the onerous duty of collecting 
delinquent taxes, with but the pitiful compensation of $60,000 
a year, takes two dubious offices to get a Senator who will pro- 
tect them both. [Laughter.] There is a fable of the dog that 
dropped the meat in the stream by his effort to add the shadow 
to the meat, and there Avill be a striking illustration of its 
wisdom not long hence, when the Commissioner, Collector and 
Chairman of Finance find that they have each made a dash 
for two offices and lost the substance in their greedy grasp for 
the shadows of an irresponsible trust. [Laughter and applause.] 

Citizens of Germantown, no community in the Fourth Dis- 
trict better understands the vital issues at stake in the contest 
than does this one. You must decide whether you shall have 
economy and accountability in public expenditures; whether 
the most lucrative offices of the city shall be perpetuated as 
great engines of extortion and political corruption; whether 
your votes shall be potential in elections, or you shall be made 
voiceless and powerless by election frauds; whether reputable 
citizens shall be eligible to office, or all places prostituted to 
Rings and ballot-stuff"ers, and whether the crushing taxes and 
debt and the financial dishonor of Philadelphia be averted. 
Even here fraud will be attempted. Forewarned, forearmed! 
Look well to every precinct; watch zealously every robber of 
your franchise; guard untiringly every avenue for the repeater 
and the rounder, and that integrity rules in your election 
boards, and all will be well. [Protracted applause.] 

I warn you, fellow-citizens, that the friends of Colonel Gray 
openly avow their purpose to carry this election by fraud. I 
do not generalize or speak vaguely. I charge that they have 
employed, and are now employing, gangs of repeaters, and 
systematically attempting to debauch election officers, and 



53 

mean, if they dare, to defy the well-known verdict of the peo- 
ple on Tuesday next. I warn Mayor Stokley, and the citizens 
of Philadelphia, that the Head Centre of this organized fraud 
is in the Mayor's office, in the person of Mr. McCuUoch, his 
chief clerk. [Sensation.] That he has been almost daily, 
directly or indirectly, in consultation with notorious repeaters, 
and is not only cognizant of, but is a party to, the contem- 
plated frauds. I assume that Mayor Stokley is ignorant of 
this to-day; to-morrow he cannot be ignorant of it, and he can 
arrest it with a word if he will. In your own Twenty-second 
Ward, one of the chief engineers of this deliberate assault 
upon the purity of the ballot-box may be seen in M. C. Hong, 
whose daily business now is to aid in perfecting gangs of 
repeaters and devising plans to defeat the well-known purpose 
of the people to overthrow this disgraceful domination on 
Tuesday next. Watch him, for he is in your midst, and your 
votes will be miscounted or overborne by repeaters, if it is 
possible to do so. I have not made these charges hastily. The 
chief manipulator of the Diamond-Watt fraud has been brought 
here, and his services are engaged for the contest, and the fact 
is known to Mr. McCulloch, to whom I refer the Mayor for 
particulars. I have with much labor watched and shadowed 
these desperadoes from the beginning of the contest, and their 
plans have not escaped me. I give them this notice to stay 
their stained and violent hands, and I give the authorities this 
notice of the fountains of these frauds. If they are still per- 
sisted in and perpetrated, the mark and doom of the felon shall 
be theirs. [Protracted applause.] Ours is the cause of every 
honest citizen. Crime has clearly defined its purposes, and its 
chief criminals are well known. They cannot — they shall not 
triumph. [Applause and cheers.] 



54 



MANAYUNK SPEECH. 

(DELIVERED FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 26.) 

The President introduced Col. McClure as the next Senator 
from the Fourth District. [Prolonged applause.] The Colonel 
stepped forward, and in a speech of over an hour's length, 
handled the subject of Reform ablj. He was effectively severe 
upon the " repeaters and ballot-box stuffers," and promised to 
read a list of them at the meeting in Friendship Hall, Nine- 
teenth Ward, this evening. As in Germantown, his allusions 
to prominent parties were especially relished. Herewith we 
append 

COL. mcclure's speech: 

Colonel McClure, after discussing the Registry Law, the 
irresponsible trusts, the extortions of the row offices, proceeded 
to refer to the operations of the rings of the city. He said 
that the bands of desperate politicians who are plundering the 
city, have absolute control of our local legislation, as well as 
of the various channels of power in the city. When they 
want a law passed to conceal their frauds, or open up new 
channels for plunder, they can command the services of a 
majority of our legislators. Hence the shameful special legis- 
lation that has been pursued from time to time to strengthen 
their power. 

One of the boldest of these special laws was passed last 
winter, and approved May 25th. It is entitled "An Act rela- 
tive to the advertisement of claims, et cetera, in the City of 
Philadelphia." Observe its title, particularly the et cetera. 
The first section innocently repeals a former act. The second 
section brings in the et cetera. [Laughter.] It provides that 
the chairman of the joint Committee of Finance in Councils 
shall appoint two persons to audit the books of the Receiver of 



55 

Taxes, and of the Collector of Delinquent Taxes, or to have 
them audited for the years 1870-'7l and '72. By this ingeni- 
ously drawn enactment, all revision of the books and accounts 
of the chief financial oflBeers of the city, and all direct account- 
ability to the people as to just laws, are swept away at one 
dash of the Rings. Now let us look how the act operates. 
Atr. Walker is chairman of Finance, who appoints the men 
to audit the collection of the entire revenues of Philadelphia. 
He is Mr. Beatty's solicitor, and Hill and Walker go into the 
Building Commission in pairs. [Laughter.] Mr. Walker, 
solicitor to the Receiver of Taxes, and his fellow-companion in 
the public building arrangement with Mr. Hill, Collector of 
Delinquent Taxes, is the only power between the tax-payers 
and those who receive and handle the 'millions of money 
annually paid by the people to interpose any protection or 
enforce any accountability. Could a prettier or easier nest be 
made for the officials named? You know that your taxes are 
plundered, but you cannot find how it is done. Why? At 
first the men who handle your revenues were restrained by 
accountability, and they were limited in their plunder to the 
amounts they could safely conceal from ordinary scrutiny. 
Now they have been emboldened to collect your money under 
special laws, to disburse your money under special laws, and 
to audit their own accounts under special laws. 

But still they are not content. They now impose the 
highest taxes on the people paid for municipal purposes by 
any city in the Union, and it is part of their system to dishonor 
the credit of the city. They bring disgrace upon the good 
name of our municipality so that they may speculate upon it, 
and the tax-payers are shamed from day to day by the warrants 
of the city being hawked about at a discount, when they have 
paid more than enough into the hands of officials to maintain 
the public credit at all times. All these evils are part of a 
collossal system of fraud that has been reared in our midst by 
special legislation, and unless the whole system and its authors 
and advocates are overthrown, you must either arrest all the 
needed public improvements or accept municipal bankruptcy. 



56 

Instead of proposing to retrench and make economical and 
honest use of the revenues, they are crying for more. They 
want to get up new jobs for new Rings, or for enlarging the 
numbers or plunder of the old ones; and as all the property 
ordinarily regarded as assessable for public revenues is so 
loaded by the regular tax levy, ami the special tax just 
approved by the Mayor for the Building Commission, that 
another feather would break the camel's back, they have gone 
in search of new sources of taxation. Every horse, " used 
chiefly for pleasure," is now to be taxed $10; hack horses, $5; 
cart and 'dray horses, $3, and all other horses, $2. It is to be 
appropriated to the improvement of Broad street, and, of 
course, it is to be done by a special authority from the Legis- 
lature, and the money is to be expended, and the accounts 
audited by the Rings of the city. By reference to the call 
for a meeting to-morrow at the Board of Trade rooms, by a 
very large number of the leading firms and citizens of Phila- 
delphia, it will be seen that the people are aroused and pro- 
testing, and I believe that they will succeed in defeating the 
measure. But why have the people of Philadelphia to scan 
the Legislative proceedings with anxious care from day to day, 
to see what of their rights are threatened by their own legis- 
lators? and why have they to neglect their business and meet 
in mass from time to time to shield themselves from their own 
public servants? Is it not time that the character of your 
Senators be changed? If so, you can hope to do it only when 
the domination of rings and rounders is overthrown in Phila- 
delphia. [Applause.] 

I have, in a speech delivered last night in Germantown, 
made specific charges against men holding important official 
positions. I declared that I was fully advised of the plans 
arranged to defeat my election by fraud. I declared that Mr. 
McCulloch, chief clerk of Mayor Stokley, was the head centre 
of the organized band to corrupt election officers, and to 
employ gangs of repeaters to defy the will of the people on 



57 

Tuesday next. I declared, also, that Marshall C. Hong, a 
deputy sheriff, was one of the chief lieutenants in this disgrace- 
ful and lawless work. I know well what I said, and why I 
said it. I know that what I have said is true, and Mayor 
Stokley cannot be blameless if this gigantic wrong is consum- 
mated. Yesterday and to-day the same band met and went 
on with the business of preparing lists of fictitious names from 
the registry for repeaters, and they will be ready for delivery 
to-morrow. I know all the persons who are engaged in this 
unblushing assaiflt upon the honest expression of the people of 
the Fourth District. I have the names of the chiefs of a number 
of the gangs employed to personate the fictitious names, and I 
will present them all to the District Attorney of Philadelphia 
to-morrow, and through him to the Mayor of the city, and all 
will soon understand that this crime can be perpetrated only 
at fearful peril to every wrong-doer. I am pained to say that 
the list of the men who went yesterday and to-day to perfect 
this engine of fraud, contains names which would startle the 
public — men who have been charged with the highest responsi- 
bilities relating to the peace and honor of the city. I will to- 
morrow give them an opportunity to learn that I have made 
no idle boast of information as to their operations; for when 
the record is put before them, reflecting back to them their 
own infamy, they will understand that I have not relied upon 
street gossip or vague suspicions. I know the men — all of the 
men — who have combined to declare Col. Gray elected by 
fraud, and so docs Col. Gray know them, and this is the last 
day that their names, their operations, their contracts, their 
chief marshals of gangs, shall be withheld from the public. 
To-morrow Barton H. Jenks, chairman of the Republican 
Reform Committee, will publicly offer a reward of $50 for the 
arrest and conviction of every repeater, and $500 for the 
arrest and conviction of every election officer w^io knowingly 
receives illegal votes or falsifies the returns. The names of 
the gangs will be made known in the locality where they are 
to operate, and they cannot escape the vigilance of the people. 



58 

I will give all these desperadoes, principals and agents, a fair 
opportunity to withdraw from this contest : and if they refuse 
to do so, then the consequences be on themselves, for they 
shall not escape. They confess that they can have Col. Gray 
declared elected only by fraud. Let them dare to execute it. 
[Prolonged applause.] 



FRANKFORD SPEECH. 

(DELIVERED SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 27.) 

Colonel McClure reviewed the Registry law, the various 
irresponsible trusts of Philadelphia, the abuses of the Row 
offices, and the necessity of making them all salaried offices, 
and demanded that special legislation should be arrested by 
the cominor Constitutional Convention. He then reviewed 
Colonel Gray's card, and said : I have seen, only in the public 
journals, a letter addressed to me by Colonel Gray, in answer 
to the courteous note I sent him on the 19th instant, asking 
him to meet me in joint discussion of the issues involved in 
the contest. Being both confessedly Republicans, there are 
no questions of national moment to be considered or decided, 
and the issues being entirely local, familiar and interesting to 
all classes of our people, I desired that they should hear us 
both, and judge between us. It would seem that Colonel Gray 
is a slow letter writer. [Laughter.] 

Ten days after the date of my note will be election day, and 
it required him seven of these to frame a letter in reply. I 
will do him the justice to say that he is certainly the author of 
his letter ; but I must, at the same time, do like justice to 
some other unknown person, by saying that the author of the 
letter was not the author of the speech recited by Colonel Gray 
before the pretended conference that nominated him. [Laugh- 



59 

ter.] The same man did not write both, unless Philip appealed 
from himself drunk to Philip sober. [Laughter.] 

The speech would indicate clearly that at that time the wolf 
was ahead of the dog in this race ; but the letter confesses in 
every line that the dog has got ahead of the wolf, [laughter,] 
and that he is bringing the Reform movement into the ring 
camp as the mountaineer brought the grizzly bear — he running 
for dear life and the bear after him. [Laughter and applause.] 
In the very opening of the contest I fully relieved him of all 
delicacy for my feelings, and if there is aught in my record, 
and in my life, that the people should know, why has he not 
come forward manfully, in the presence of the people and 
myself, and informed them ? 

If I am unworthy of public trust, you should know it and he 
should declare it, for I have opened the way for him to do so. 
Instead of meeting tiae, or in any way presenting the issues 
before the people, he skulked around with ballot-stuifers, 
repeaters and rounders, from day to day, to perpetrate frauds 
upon the people of the district, and finally answers by a long 
letter of cowardly inuendoes and pitiful quibbles. I say that 
he proposed, by letter, to run as a Democratic Johnson 
candidate for Congress in 1866, against our acknowledged 
champion of the protective policy. Judge Kelley, [applause,] 
and he does not venture to meet the charge. He does manage 
to get in a feeble denial, but I will with great pleasure and 
promptness take Colonel Gray, or any committee of his friends, 
to the gentleman to whom he wrote the letter, voluntarily 
offering to run anainst Judge Kellev in 1866. As nobody in 
particular wanted him to run but himself, [laughter,] and as 
he had no police organization to crowd the Democrats and 
Johnson men into a corner, under the direction of maces and 
stars, to compel them to accept him as a candidate, he decided 
to withdraw. [Laughter.] And as Johnsonism soon showed 
signs of decline and fall, he prudently concluded that 
it wasn't his funeral, and he departed the Johnson ranks 
unregretted. [Laughter.] 



60 

Thus he proved, as he has stated in his letter, that he has 
always been the "warm friend and supporter" of Judge 
Kelley. The Judge may like that sort of friendship, and, if so, 
I have no right to complain ; but it is not the kind of support 
I would want to carry an election, I have several times been 
elected by the people, but I do not remember that I ever 
counted a man as my "warm friend and supporter" who ran 
against me himself, or who didn't run only because nobody 
favored him but himself. [Laughter.] But it seems to be 
Colonel Gray's idea of a " warm friend and supporter," for it 
is the style of support that the majority of the Republicans 
are giving him for Senator ; that is, they are- going for " the 
other fellow." [Shouts of laughter.] 

If I am a stranger in the district, he is stranger still, for I was a 
resident of it long before he vainly importuned the Republicans 
of the Second district to send him to the §enate. [Laughter.] 
I do not know when he got into the district, but I do know that 
three years ago he made a desperate effort to defeat Mr. 
Henszey in our neighboring senatorial district. Finding that 
he could most gratify the Republicans of that district by 
leaving it, he shook the dust from off his feet there, and landed 
in our midst, a full-feathered candidate for anything from the 
start. [Laughter.] 

But this is by-play. Why is he not here ? Why is he 
equivocal or silent on the questions which have stirred the 
whole press and people of Philadelphia? Why does he not 
come before you and declare me unfit for public trust, instead 
of publishing vague insinuations ? Why was your Board of 
Trade Rooms crowded to-day with merchants, manufacturers 
and business men of Philadelphia? It was because the 
crippled energies of our city are threatened with still greater 
thrusts from the rings, and so every man, of whatever party, 
declared it. While I was attending the meeting. Col. Gray 
was closeted with Mr. McCulloch, chief clerk of the Mayor, to 
perfect a system of frauds to defy the expression of the people 



61 

on Tuesday next. Driven from their ordinary halints, they 
had gone to confer in some more secluded place ; but there 
were vigilant eyes upon them everywhere. [Laughter.] 

Their plans for fraudulent voting were most gigantic. They 
meant one week ago to make Gray's majority 10,000. Then 
they defied, they jeered, they insulted every man who ven- 
tured to declare for municipal regeneration. They had their 
precincts spotted, their gangs engaged, their prices arranged, 
their lists of fictitious names printed, and all was to go merry 
as a marriage bell. [Laughter.] But their was "a chiel amang 
them," and a storm came upon them. They hurled the sup- 
posed Jonahs overboard, but instead of being swallowed by the 
whale, they swallowed the whale. [Laughter.] Wherever they 
have congregated there were wierd shadows like the ghost of 
Banquo, that would not down, and to-day their names and asso- 
ciations are as well known to the Mayor, to the Sheriff'^ and to 
the District Attorney as they are to the rounders themselves. 

As the tempest thickened around them they fell from 10,000 
to 5,000, and then to 4,000, and then to 2,000 ; and now to 
anything or nothing. [Applause.] This morning Col. Gray 
was on the point of withdrawing from the contest, for all who 
do not wish to be a party to crime advised him of his inevita- 
ble defeat, and even his "pals" in the game, with trembling 
voice, declared their plans impossible of execution with safety. 
[Applause.] The sentiment of the better class of Republicans 
was unmistakable that he should retire, allow the Republican 
organization to accept the Republican Reform candidate, and 
thus do justice to the Republican party. But to surrender 
would have been a confession of guilt, and his banded crimi- 
nals demanded his continuance. 

I gave public notice in a speech last night that I had infor- 
mation of all the startling plans to compass my defeat by 
fraud ; that to-day I would lay them before the District Attor- 
ney, and that I would give them fair notice to withdraw from 
this fearful public wrong. I called upon the District Attorney 



62 

to-day, prepared with affidavit, if necessary, to bring the whole 
gang, high and low, within the grasp of the law the moment 
they should attempt to execute fraud. The leaders were seen 
in person by the District Attorney, and they hoisted the Avhite 
flag. [Prolonged applause.] But pirates, who are even more 
to be respected than the slimy burglar of the ballot, often hoist 
strange flags to deceive the unwary, and I place little faith in 
the professions of these men to desist. 

Later in the evening, some of them met under the leadership 
of a well known politician who picks up the drippings of the 
public offices, but the leaders did not venture to put in an ap- 
pearance. [Applause.] If they can deceive you into the 
belief that the election is to be an honest one, and thus throw 
you off" your guard, they will put new leaders at the head of 
these gangs, and poll thousands of illegal votes. In the 
Twenty-third Ward, the precinct where I now stand, the Sixth, 
is the one they will attempt to control by fraud. [Sensation.] 
They cannot, dare not do it, if you will guard your ballot-box 
with vicfilance. 

When I presented formal complaint to the District Attorney, 
and they were called to account, they did not deny their guilt, 
but answered that my friends — two of whom were named — 
meant to perpetrate frauds. When the allegation was brought 
to me I at once asked the District Attorney to vindicate me 
and my cause by the promptest measures, to make frauds im- 
possible on either side. [Applause.] If any men off'er to cast 
illegal votes for me, arrest them, and the chairman of the Re- 
publican Reform Committee, Colonel Barton H. Jenks, will 
pay a reward of $50 a head for information that will lead to 
their conviction. [Prolonged applause.] We do not propose 
to stop frauds upon one side and let them be practiced on the 
other side. Our committee is prepared to pay the reward 
named for the conviction of any illegal voter, no matter for 
whom he votes, [applause,] and the District Attorney is 
pledged by every consideration of justice, public duty and 



63 

personal honor, to vindicate the laws by swift punishment upon 
all offenders. The following is his letter, addressed to me on 
the subject : 

Philadelphia, January 27, 1872. 
Hon. a. K. McClure: 

Dear Sir: — In reply to yours of to-day, I have to say that 
I have received like complaints from the friends of Col. Gray, 
charging that frauds are contemplated against him at the 
election to be held next Tuesday. 

I say to you as I say to them that no such lawless actions 
can be tolerated, and no person should expect to receive any 
protection or sanction from me. I will prosecute with the 
utmost rigor any offender who shall violate the election laws, 
no matter in whose interests such lawless acts may be per- 
formed. Yours truly, 

Wm. B. Mann, District Attorney. 

[The letter was greeted with rounds of applause.] As the 
leading conspirators are pledged to desist from their contem- 
plated frauds, I have been content to leave their names and 
plans with the District Attorney for the present. He holds the 
names of men who originated it and who can stop it if they 
will. They cannot persist in it without detection, for even if 
they should resume their operations at midnight of Monday, 
they would be known to the authorities before the sunlight of 
Tuesday shall break the morning darkness. [Applause.] 

Think you that rounders and repeaters are useful only for 
the perpetration of frauds? When fraud is perilous, the 
rounder may shadow the rounders, [laughter,] and Greek may 
meet Greek in this delightful holiday of fraud. [Laughter.] 
If the repeaters and conspirators have made me SAvallow a rat, 
I know of no remedy ^'^t to swallow a cat. [Laughter and 
applause.] 



64 

I want you to understand that I am not in any sense an 
ornamental candidate for Senator. [Applause.] 1 have to 
make a desperate struggle against a most formidable combina- 
tion of most desperate men, and they would laugh at my 
speeches, exposing them, if it was merely to be a war of words. 
It is a war unto death — a war of extermination, [applause,] 
and the experienced experts who have been by my side in the 
struorcrle to reach the fountain of fraud, through its own sinu- 
ous and polluted streams, have not been armed alone with 
moral suasion. You would not appease the tigress, defending 
her Avhelps, with tracts on the atonement, nor would you con- 
vert the rounder by Carey's admirable essays on " Political 
Economy." [Laughter.] Let them, if they dare, perpetrate 
this fraud, and the reckoning will be prompt, complete, 
relentless. [Prolonged applause.] 



65 



NINETEENTH WARD SPEECH. 

(DELIVERED SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 27.) 

Colonel McClure spoke for nearly an hour and a half, 
reviewing the local issues of the contest. He said this contest 
has no political significance whatever. The district being 
overwhelmingly Republican, both the candidates are con- 
fessedly Republican, so that neither Republicans nor Democrats 
are embarrassed in voting for their own endangered local 
interests. If the district was Democratic, it would be the duty 
of the people to support a Reform Democrat, as did the Re- 
publicans of New York in throwing off the intolerable yoke of 
Tammany. [Applause.] 

The Republican and Democrat who desire reform can make 
common cause in this conflict for the redemption of our city. 
It does not in any measure involve our National and State 
administrations, and no true friend of either will involve them in 
a struggle of the people that is solely for the honor, safety and 
prosperity of our city ; nor can any folly of superserviceable 
friends make me faithless, in or out of the Senate, to the just 
convictions or preferences of my Republican associates. It 
is a contest with monstrous fra.ud, so confident of its power, 
that until now it has felt safe in its disgraceful work. 

Here, in the Nineteenth ward, and in the adjoining Twen- 
tieth, is the chief theatre designed for the operations of repeaters 
on Tuesday next, [Several voices near the crowded door, "It's 
not so;" sensation and some confusion.] I repeat it, citizens 
of the Nineteenth ward, here is the chief battle-ground selected 
by the conspirators, who mean, if they dare, to overthrow your 
honest verdict in the coming election. I speak advisedly. I 
5 



66 

know every precinct in which the work was planned. [Ap- 
plause.] The men who have come to treat elections as a mere 
mockery of the people, have publicly boasted in the streets 
that they could buy Democrats in the Nineteenth ward like 
sheep in the shambles, and that there are election officers here, 
and elsewhere, who will give a dishonest return for a considera- 
tion. I doubt not that political loafers have bargained with 
Colonel Gray and his managers to deliver your votes, but I 
know that there will be a failure in the delivery for want of 
title. [Applause.] 

A few thieves will cheat a few rogues in the deal, and the 
people of the Nineteenth ward, of both parties, will vote 
honestly and independently for the man of their choice. [Ap- 
plause.] They have cheated in this ward before. [Sensation.] 
I hold in my hand a copy made this day from the official 
records of the court, showing that last fall, 999 votes were 
deliberately taken from the vote of the Democratic candidate for 
Senator, to make Mr. Connell's majority in the district appear 
to be 7300 instead of 6300. Neither Connell, nor any friend 
of Connell, had a hand in it ; but desperate men had made 
desperate bets upon the majority, and they cheated you out of 
999 votes, on the return, to steal the wagers they had staked. 
[Applause.] If any man doubts it I will go with him to the 
records and returns and prove the statement beyond the possi- 
bility of contradiction. Mr. Connell had thus returned over 
2300 majority in this ward, and as he was then at the point of 
death he had no opportunity to vindicate his good name by 
showing that he had but 1300, as he would have done promptly 
had he lived. [Applause.] As there was no interest felt in 
the contest, Mr. Connell being conceded his election by a 
large majority, the wrong was never looked into, and now it is 
proposed to add from 1000 to 2000 illegal votes to Col. Gray's 
vote in this ward, if the repeaters can get their work done, or 
if election officers can be corrupted. 

The purity of the ballot is a matter of most vital interest to 
every citizen, and I now call upon every honest man of the 
Nineteenth ward to awake to the fact that his dearest rights 



67 

will be invaded and defied on Tuesday if the ingenuity of 
villainy can compass it. But if you will man your polls at 
every precinct with faithful, resolute men, prepared to battle 
determinedly for the honest expression of your people, crime 
will hide from you and leave you masters of the field. Let 
there be committees of Republicans, Reformers, Democrats, 
and of citizens indiscriminately, to scrutinize every voter, and 
note with scrupulous care the announcement of the hourly 
vote. Then you can judge with reasonable accuracy whether 
the vote announced each hour is correct. If a false return is 
declared, start a dozen or twenty men after the voters of that 
particular hour, who are known or supposed to have voted for 
me, and if more are found than have been counted, let them 
make afiidavit of the fact and demand an honest count in the 
face of a warrant of arrest. [Prolonged applause.] 

We are not just now playing marbles with wrong-doers. 
[Laughter and applause.] We have grappled with them in 
desperate, deadly conflict. While the conspirators against the 
purity of the ballot are bombarded at long range with fierce 
speeches, resolutions, editorials and mass meetings, they have 
no fears. Such things do for honest thinking men, but they 
send nobody to the penitentiary. [Laughter.] This is a 
hand to hand struggle, face to face, man to man, heart to 
heart, and the victor and vanquished will well realize the 
momentous issues of the conflict. [Applause.] In the hands 
of the legal authorities are the names of the conspirators, their 
plans, their localities of operation, and their calculations. 
They have pledged themselves to desist, but as fraud only can 
win for our opponent, they must resort to fraud or retreat from 
the field with their candidate before Tuesday. Whenever it 
shall be ascertained beyond a question that fraud cannot be 
successfully employed, that hour Col. Gray will give up the 
contest, for his success by legal votes has not been hoped for 
since the contest opened. He was on the point of declining 
this morning, when they discovered that their conspiracy was 
detected; and if at any time they resolve in good faith to 
abandon fraud, they will abandon the fight. [Applause.] 



6S 

But remember that wrong is sleepless ; that it deceives the 
honest into confidence and then deals its blows by stealth, and 
that your only safety is in the utmost watchfulness. Col. 
Forney's Press, the only Gray organ of any political charac- 
ter and circulation in the city, confesses this morning that the 
Republican revolt of the best elements of the party against 
the King candidate, is overwhelming and fatal, and calls for 
the Republicans and Reformers to unite on a new man, or 
myself. He but reflects the unmistakable sentiment of all the 
better elements of both parties, and if that warning is disre- 
garded, a fearful responsibility must be assumed by those who 
cling so madly to ring dominion within the Republican party. 
[Applause.] Col. Forney truly says that Reform is the faith of 
the great mass of Republicans, and that my success can 
endanger no honest purpose or preference of the party, for my 
record is boldly made up. It will bring just laws for all par- 
ties, and it will be a declaration for economy and account- 
ability in our public departments, and these can contravene no 
honest political conviction or aim. [Applause.] 

While I believe that the vote of the people will be so over- 
whelming that fraud cannot overcome it, the lesson must be 
taught that there is a power in an aroused people, and in their 
laws, that is stronger than fraud. If the pestilence threatens 
your family, you do not wait for your neighbor to shield you 
and yours. You draw about them the holy circle of your pro- 
tection, and ceaseless vigils guard your homes. But here 
comes a worse than moral pestilence. It saps the vitals of 
your government, corrupts your liberties, plunders your sub- 
stance, and loads you with oppression. It is an assault upon 
the interests and honor of every individual citizen, and it 
challenges him to the front to give battle to the foe of public 
order and public safety. [Applause.] Let each citizen of the 
Nineteenth Ward feel that it is his duty to guard the ballot 
from the assaults of the repeater and the false return. The 
proper officers of the law are advised and prepared to sustain 
you, and Colonel Barton H. Jenks, Chairman of the Repub- 



69 

lican Reform Committee, has just issued a proclamation that 
shows how earnest we are in this war upon ballot-stuflBng, out- 
side or inside. Here is his proclamation: 

[C?- REWARD! 

ELECTION FRAUDS! 

HEAD-QUARTERS REPUBLICAN REFORM COMMITTEE, 

No. 144 South Sixth Stkeet, Philadelphia. 

A reward of $50 will be paid to any person giving information tha* 
will secure the detection and conviction of any person guilty of fraud 
upon the election by illegal voting on Tuesday next. 

$500 REWARD! 

A reward of $500 will be paid to any person furnishing information 
which will secure the detection and conviction of any Election Officer 
who shall be guilty of any frauds, by fraudulent votes, false counts or 
false returns of votes to be cast on Tuesday next. 

By order of Committee, 

BARTON H. JENKS, Chairman. 

[The proclamation was received with hearty applause.] 

Think not that this is the contest of the capitalist or mer- 
chant, or manufacturer. It is the cause of every man, but 
especially is it the cause of the laboring man. Give me wealth 
and I can live under any government. It may make bad 
laws, but I can evade their chief burdens. The manufacturer 
can stop and save his capital — the hum of his spindles, and the 
rude music of his forges and shops may be silenced, but he 
can live, or seek the thousand channels ever open to money. 
But upon the laborer falls the crudest wrongs of bad govern- 
ment. Excessive taxes swell his rents, and his every neces- 
sary of life, and when business is paralyzed, it is the laborer 



70 

ttat wants for bread. 1 heard the merchants and manufac- 
turers speak earnest words to-day at the Board of Trade Rooms, 
on the reckless policy of taxation enforced by the rings of 
Philadelphia. They declared that they could not compete 
with other cities in manufacturing and trade if the tax mea- 
sures now contemplated were adopted. If they cannot, upon 
whom must the blow fall ? 

The manufacturer and merchant may be exposed to loss in 
closing business, in seeking new places where the burdens of 
bad government may be escaped, but the laborers of Philadel- 
phia would have the channels of industry lessened and their 
own competition with each other increased. I do not theorize 
on this point. I know by the saddest experience the effect of 
bad laws upon the laborer. I first visited Philadelphia twenty- 
five years ago as a journeyman mechanic in search of employ- 
ment. [Applause.] Our protective policy had just been 
destroyed and our industry crippled. Manufacturers were 
stopped, or on half work, simply saving their capital for better 
days and better laws, while thousands of us sought in vain, 
from place to place, the privilege to toil. I learned then that 
however heavy may be the blow dealt to capital by unwise 
laws, the sorest calamity fell upon the laborer; and that govern- 
ment that does not look to the thrift of its industry is faith- 
less to its greatest fountain of wealth. [Applause.] Under 
our free institutions our labor is the supreme source of our 
greatness. It has brought the countless wealth of our mines 
to swell our commerce, quicken and diversify our energies, 
and swell our riches. It has made every fruitful field, every 
lovely home, every flower that blossoms, and all our innumer- 
able monuments of beauty and bounty. It has reared every 
school-house and pointed the spire of every church to heaven. 
When it is prosperous our country is prosperous ; when it is 
paralyzed, every element of trade shares the calamity. 

It is, therefore, the first duty of every government to pro- 
tect it by just laws and shield it from the oppression of corrupt 
rulers. And the laborer, of all others, has the most interest 
in faithful government, both local and general. You may not 



71 

gather wealth about you, but oui' free institutions unstained by 
wrong and unimpaired by corruption, make the noblest patrimony 
the citizen can leave to his children. [Applause.] Its schools, 
its free religion, its social eminence, its highest trusts and 
honors, are open alike to all. They are the common inherit- 
ance of the children of the lowly and the great, and merit is 
our only known badge of nobility. [Applause.] Think not 
that this contest for good government is not yours. Fraud 
spares no condition in its sweep of dishonor, and all classes of 
every faith are summoned to the conflict. It cannot fail unless 
virtue and vigilance are lost to the people of Philadelphia. — 
[Protracted applause.] 



TWENTIETH WARD SPEECH. 

(delivered MONDAY evening, JANUARY 29.) 

Col. McClure addressed the audience as follows : 
He reviewed the Registry law, the irresponsible trusts, the 
Row offices, and other municipal abuses most pointedly, and 
declared boldly for honest election laws for all parties ; the 
strictest accountabilitv to all trusts and other channels of 
public expenditure, the abolition of the fee system in the Row 
offices, and restrictions upon the taxing powers of the authori- 
ties. He then turned his attention to the agencies combined 
to defeat reform in Philadelphia. 

I shall, he said, speak plainly. The times demand it, and 
those who have invoked lawless and unfair means to make an 
apparent triumph for Ring and Rounder dominion in Philadel- 
phia must accept the thrusts they have provoked. Mr. Walker, 
chairman of the joint Finance Committee of the Councils, 
comes to the rescue, and Mr. Hancock, City Controller, 
waves his plume in defence of their threatened citadel of plun- 
der. I charged that by a most startling specimen of special 



72 

legislation, the accounts of the officers who collect and handle 
the entire revenues of Philadelphia are practically audited and 
settled by themselves, and all accountability is at an end 
under the law. 

Mr. Walker, the gentleman who is not only authorized by 
this law, but actually "directed" to select the auditors to settle 
the accounts of the Receiver of Taxes and of the Collector of 
Delinquent Taxes, is the Solicitor of the Receiver, and the 
chum in the Building Commission with the Collector. To this 
Mr. Walker does not put in a denial, but he says he has not 
appointed the auditors, but has left it for the Controller, as 
before, and the Controller so testifies. Then Mr. Walker has 
disobeyed the law, and so has the Controller. Do you suppose 
for a moment that the law was an accident ? Do you dream that 
somebody forced it upon Messrs. Walker, Beatty and Hill 
without their knowledge? Can it be doubted that this law 
emanated from the three officials who have, by its extraor- 
dinary provisions, made themselves the only checks upon them- 
selves in collecting and paying out your millions of taxes 
annually ? Could such a law have been passed in the interest 
of official integrity ? or must it not have come from some well 
concealed fountain of wrong ? 

I ask the tax-payers to look at the act as published in the 
pamphlet laws for 1871, page 1156, entitled " An Act Relat- 
ing to the Advertising of Claims, etc., in the City of Philadel- 
phia." When you have seen it and considered its hidden 
powers, you will not wonder that horses and mules and sales of 
business men must be taxed, if Ring rule is sustained in our 
city. [Applause.] The officers in question do not pretend to 
deny what I have said, but they plead that they disregard the 
law, thus confessing that they are ashamed to attempt a vindi- 
cation of their own work. [Applause.] It is the most promis- 
ing growth of Tweed and Tammany that has cropped out in 
our special legislation, and is but the capstone of the monu- 
ment of special enactments framed and passed to make plun- 
dering a profession in Philadelphia. First they open all possi- 
ble avenues to absorb public revenues without responsibility to 



73 

the community, and then they make it legal for them to audit 
and settle their own accounts. When the repeal of this law 
shall be proposed in the Legislature, as it will be, within a 
week [applause,] there will not be a man from Philadelphia 
so shameless as to vote against it. [Prolonged applause.] 

Fellow-citizens, the defiant and solid ranks of the repeaters 
and rounders have been broken in this contest. [Applause.] 
It has been a terrible, an exhausting struggle, but it involves 
everything to all classes. If vigilance and determination shall 
be exercised by the people to-morrow, the rout will be com- 
plete, and hundreds of cut-throats and thieves will find 
their occupation gone in Philadelphia. [Prolonged applause.] 
Never was a more systematic and gigantic fraud systematized 
and prepared for execution ; but they could not escape the 
watchfulness of faithful men who were with them everywhere. 
[Applause.] 

At first they met boldly in important public ofiices. When 
they found that they w^ere detected they scattered to difi'erent 
haunts throughout the city. Finding that they had no escape 
there, they sub-divided and congregated in fragmentary bands; 
but, behold ! there too were the inevitable shadows that reflected 
them and their actions back to me. [Applause.] They dis- 
carded several as "giving them away" or "blowing," but hit 
the wrong man the first time, and afterwards always hit the 
right man just where they had missed him before. [Laughter 
and applause.] Yesterday a few of them met, but the leaders 
were generally absent, and to-day they Avere wandering like 
lost sheep, seeking some unguarded channel for their frauds. 
They have more than once decided not to attempt to repeat, 
and as often some of the more daring have renewed the con- 
spiracy. 

They have everything in readiness for the work, but whether 
they dare venture to make the attack is the vexed problem. 
They have their window-books prepared for the so-called regu- 
lar Republican window-men in the precincts selected for 
repeaters, with the entire list of voters as usual, and the 7iames 
to he voted on hy rejieaters are ticked on those books. They 



74 

have been seen and examined, and I ask some honest man to 
glance at the window-book of the ring-window man, when 
suspicious voters appear in the Nineteenth, the Twentieth and 
Twenty-fifth wards especially. They may try repeaters in 
some other places, but tliis ward, and the Twentieth and 
Twenty-fifth, will be the theatre of the rounders' war upon the 
integrity of the ballot, if they shall venture on the perilous 
task. AVhen the repeater comes, the window-man will not 
recognize him in any way; but when he calls a name that is 
ticked off on the list to be appropriated to gentry of that 
cloth, a sign will be given to the proper election officers, and 
the vote will go in. Many of them are to have tickets appear- 
ing to be mine, to deceive the honest men who may be watching 
the poll. 

At four o'clock this afternoon they had not decided upon 
their line of action. I believe that most of the leaders have 
deemed discretion the better part of valor. Larry Ball, from 
New York, who figured in the Watt-Diamond fraud, and who 
was to be one of the star actors in this interesting company to 
entertain the voters and tax-payers of Philadelphia, has not 
appeared at rehearsal for a few days ; [laughter and applause;] 
and Gus. Heckler, another star actor, who had won honors in 
organizing both repeaters and perjury for the Watt-Diamond 
case, has been here, but after several rehearsals, he threw up 
his engagement and left the performance to the stock actors of 
the Philadelphia establishment. [Laughter and applause.] 
And the chiefs of the stock actors have been dropping out, 
but it is by no means certain that the show will not go on after 
a fashion, to-morrow. I will know in the morning, before they 
can have one hundred fraudulent votes polled, and if they open 
the show at the polls in the early part of the day, the perform- 
ance will close in the station-houses and prisons of the city. 
[Prolonged applause.] 

When trouble came upon the conspirators, they have been 
perplexed as to what they should play. At first it was to have 
been the well known farce of voting early and often, [laughter,] 
but when they discovered that rounders would probably shadow 



75 

rounders, [laughter,] and that the law would shadow all of 
them, they resolved that they would resort to false counts, 
instead of fraudulent voting. 

All of this day the most vigorous efforts have been made to 
debauch election officers, and they are now boasting that majori- 
ties will be returned in this and the adjoining ward, which 
could not be given on any fair count of the votes polled. In 
short, they have been attempting to tamper with a number of 
election officers, and that is now their chief reliance for the 
success of the ring candidate. They tried it in various portions 
of the district, in one instance in my own ward, the Twenty- 
seventh. They hope to have a false count in the Sixth precinct 
of my ward, but they will be jolly when they get it, [laughter,] 
and some men will not be so jolly if they attempt to give it. 
[Laughter and applause.] There will be brave and true men, 
of all parties, not only in the Sixth precinct of the Twenty- 
seventh ward, but in every precinct where they have attempted 
to debauch the return, and no man will perpetrate the double 
crime of perjury and fraud without meeting with the swiftest 
punishment. [Applause.] I will not only expose the frauds 
before the Senate, but the people will test, and most searchingly 
test the integrity of all our officers connected with the adminis- 
tration of justice, and I feel assured that the laws will be 
promptly and thoroughly vindicated. [Applause.] 

The last refuge of the rings is the shelter they hoped to find 
under the banner of Republicanism and the Administration. 
The Republican State Committee has spoken by resolution. 
It of course was dictated by the demand of the Philadelphia 
portion of the committee, who felt that they could not carry 
their candidate on his merits. Most of them had gone to 
Washington, and professed to have Republicanism in their 
keeping, and demanded the positive support of the Adminis- 
tration in all their operations. Who are these gentlemen who 
assume to control the State Committee and attempt to poison 
the confidence of the Administration in men whose Republi- 
canism is proven by years of labor and sacrifice, and not by 
office-hunting ? [Applause.] > 



76 

Let me give you the names of the men who speak for the 
Republicans of the city, the men who actually attended the 
State Committee, and passed the resolution in favor of Gray : 
Charles A. Porter, ex-Deputy Sheriff, ex-U. S. Assistant 
Assessor, and member of the Legislature; [laughter;] John 
Houseman, Recorder of Deeds ; J. C. Kelch, ex-Receiver of 
Taxes, and Gray delegate; R. C. Tittermary, bank assessor, 
and handy in elections ; [laughter;] H. H. Bingham, Post- 
master; W. R. Leeds, Sheriif; Ezra Lukens, U. S. Assistant 
Treasurer's clerk ; Thos. H. Kemble, non-ofificeholder; Joseph 
C. Hancock, City Controller; John A. Loughridge, Prothono- 
tary of Common Pleas; H. Crawford Miller, occupation not 
known to me ; Joseph A. Bonham, Row Solicitor and candidate ; 
A. C. Roberts, Trustee of Gas Works; James McManes, 
Trustee of Gas Works, and Park Commissioner; Gideon Clark, 
ex-Master Warden, and William B. Elliott, U. S. Assessor. 
This is the entire list of the men who attended and copipelled 
the State Committee to declare for Gray. [Laughter and 
applause.] 

As like begets like, how could such a committee of men, 
made up almost wholly of ring-masters and their dependents, 
do else than declare for the rings and rounders in this contest? 
[Applause.] Where on that committee are the Republican 
people of Philadelphia represented ? Who could speak for the 
fifty thousand faithful Republicans of the city, who follow 
Republicanism from conviction, and not for office ? Who spoke 
for them in Washington, and in the State Committee? Who 
of them could say that Republican success depends upon 
Republican purity? [Prolonged applause.] I feel honored 
in this contest, that such a committee does not favor my election. 
[Applause.] 

But the crowning shame of the rings is their effort to-day to 
flino; the name of President Grant into the contest. It is as 
unjust to the President as it is to the oppressed people of 
Philadelphia, and to me, and they were too wise in their despera- 
tion to invoke the power of the Administration until it was 
too late to be thoroughly exposed. My views on all political 



77 

subjects were well understood from the first day I entered the 
battle. I declared that a Senator could not disregard the 
wishes of his people on any question affecting their principles, 
preferences on candidates, without dishonor, [prolonged 
applause,] and I could not fail to recognize the prevailing 
sentiment in ^ the Fourth district in favor of the renomination 
of President Grant; [applause;] and recognizing it, I would 
faithfully obey it. [Prolonged applause.] If I could not do 
so, I could not have accepted the standard in this contest. 

My position has been fully vindicated by the two leading 
daily papers in this city which advocate Grant's renomination. 
I refer to the Press and Bulletin. To-day the letter-carriers 
have been -circulating, outside of the Post Office, an article 
from the North American'^' opposing my election, and involving 
the Presidency, to shield the Rings. There are those who 
make haste to the throne, but they are not those who sustain 
the throne when it is rocked by the tempest of popular trial, 
[applause,] and no one can better appreciate this fact than the 
President of the United States. [Prolonged applause.] 

A nomination made by violence and fraud, without any 
pretence of an honest expression of the Republican voters, 
made in the midst of hundreds of policemen and a regiment of 
desperadoes, is labelled Republican. It had no mixed pater- 
nity ; it was all fraud. I hold in my hand one of the many 
fraudulent certificates prepared for Gray delegates for the 
Seventh division of the Twenty-eighth ward. It was manu- 
factured in the Second precinct of the Second ward, and they 
were furnished at $12 each, Avith reasonable discount for 
wholesale orders. [Laughter and applause.] It has all the 
solemnity of form ; it commences, " we, the undersigned 
Republican citizens, etc." [Laughter and applause.] Like the 
members of the Republican State Committee of this city, they 
claim to represent the sovereignty of the party. [Laughter.] 
When the two tailors of Tooley street, London, prefaced 
their resolution with, " We, the people of England," [laughter,] 

♦See Appendix for article in full. 



78 

they had some semblance of right for their claim, for they were 
of the people of England ; but these strikers who were to make 
a Republican candidate for Senator by unblushing fraud, not 
only do not live in the district, but do not belong to the Republi- 
can party at all. [Laughter.] And yet the rings and rounders, 
in their last extremity, would hurl upon the President this 
crushing load of their infamy ! It is the mousing owl, in the 
hour of danger, mounting the eagle to soar to safety, but it 
cannot be done. [Applause.] It is a libel upon the President 
to charge him with the defense of these wrongs ; to involve 
him in a purely local contest that can have but one significance 
— the triumph or defeat of corruption and maladministration in 
Philadelphia. [Prolonged applause.] 

Citizens of Philadelphia, the argument in this conflict is 
ended. I have performed my duty, however imperfectly, with 
fidelity. I was called upon to accept a position I do no^ 
desire, and to accept a struggle that was not inviting. It is 
the first time the dominion of most formidable organizations, 
which control almost the entire power and revenue of the city, 
has been brought to the very verge of destruction. [Applause.] 
For the first time in years, long-emboldened fraud in elections 
has been made to halt and tremble for its own safety. 
[Applause.] Whether the destruction shall be complete, and 
whether the halt of the repeaters and perjured election officers 
shall be a parley or an overthrow, your votes and energies to- 
morrow must decide. 

If the voters of the district who sincerely desire honest 
election laws, accountability and economy in all public depart- 
ments, the disgraceful plundering of our Row offices arrested, 
and the powers of the people over their own affairs restored to 
them, shall make common cause to-morrow, our triumph will 
be measured by thousands. [Applause.] But if the people 
fail to do their whole duty, and fraud is allowed to run riot, 
as it intends, if it dare, Philadelphia will remand herself from 
the very portal of safety back to corruption, oppression and 
dishonor. With you I leave the issue, and with the honest 
verdict of the people I shall be content. [Prolonged applause.] 



79 



HORTICULTURAL HALL SPEECH. 

At a mass meeting held pursuant to a call of the Reform 
Association* the week following the election, Mr. McClure 
spoke as follows: 

Great contests with great crimes are often unequal for a 
season. Individuals or even organizations may be overborne 
by organized and emboldened wrong doers, but in all civilized 
communities, when the people rise in their majesty, banded 
corruptionists dissolve in confusion and shame. [Applause.] 
Tammany was the boldest, and for a time the most omnipotent, 
of public robbers. It had party, it had offices, it had bound- 

*TAX-PAYERS TO THE FRONT I 



HEADQUARTERS. NO. 711 SANSOM STREET. 

THE CITIZENS' MUNICIPAL REFORM ASSOCIATION invites the tax-payers 
and voters of Philadelphia to assemble in mass meeting at HORTICULTURAL 
HALL, on WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7, at 7>^, P. M., to express the indignation of the 
community at the would-be masters of Philadelphia, who COMMIT FRAUDS at the 
ballot-box in order to perpetuate the power which enables them to commit FRAUDS 
in OFFICE. Let the CORRUPT RINGS which govern our politics understand that 
at last the People are Aroused. Let those who PACK CONVENTIONS learn that 
their reign is over. Teach the office holders that their wages are paid for honest work 
and not for CHEATING and BULLYING at elections. Tell your representatives in 
Councils that they are not elected to secure their own interests at the expense of the 
city; that you are tired of paying taxes for which you get little or no return; that 
you will have retrenchment and honesty, rigid accountability, and efficient public 
service. Tell your representatives in the Legislature that they must pass laws that 
will prevent election frauds, and abolish the exorbitant fee system which plunders 
the many for the benefit of the few. Tell all the political hacks that the day of 
Retribution is at hand, when the people shall rise in their might and put an end to 
the corruption and plunder which are overloading the rich and crushing the poor. 

Come, all honest tax-payers, and declare to the office-holders that they are the ser- 
vants and not the masters of the people. 

Hon. BENJ. HARRIS BREWSTER, 
Hon. E. JOY MORRIS, 
aon. RICHARD VAUX, 
Hon. A. K. McCLURE, 
Hon. JOHN PRICE WETHERILL, 
Dr. WILLIAM ELDER, 
And other distinguished speakers, to be announced hereafter, will address the meeting. 

R. RUNDLE SMITH, 
President of the Aaaociation. 
HENRY C. LEA, 

Chairman Executive Committee. 



80 

less revenues, it had men eminent in social position and culture, 
it had courts, it had jurors — all were its undisputed soui'ces of 
power — but it has fallen, and without worshippers. [Applause.] 
It defied the press, it mocked the law, it flung its stolen trea- 
sures before the world, and the weak bowed, the venal shared, 
and the good trembled; but at last the people rose in their 
might — the sovereign power of the land came as the willing, 
earnest handmaid of the insulted laws, and New York was 
redeemed. [Applause.] 

There are times when the people must assert their power for 
the public safety. Such action is in no sense revolutionary. 
It is within the law, it is of the law, and its success is by the 
law. It is but the infusion of fresh life, from the fountain of 
all power, into the diseased and paralyzed body politic, and it 
quickens and purifies the community. We have honest courts. 
What more can we say? We had notice but yesterday that it is 
vain to attempt the prosecution of the gravest ofi"ences. The 
denial is hissed back upon the people from the inquest of the 
city [sensation] charged with inquiring for the people whether 
crime is in our midst. Think not that Avith one failure the 
conflict will end. [Applause.] New York was thus defied, 
and the courts were the allies of packed juries; but soon the 
jury of the people came, each man with his duty written in the 
living flame of popular indignation, and Justice again held her 
scales before accuser and accused. Soitwillbehere. [Applause.] 

The more the course of justice is obstructed the more speedy 
and terrible will be the retributive wave when the barriers of 
crime are broken, and the wider and cleaner will be its sweep. 
Investicration into fraud is the most vexatious of tasks in our 
city. To procure the examination of records in the custody 
of ofl&cers of the courts has required repeated orders from 
judges, and finally notice in open court of summary punish- 
ment; and when the work was reached the sealed records 
wanted had been opened. Whether it was done in the interest 
of justice you can well judge. 

With nearly the whole revenues of the city disbursed with- 
out just accountability; with honest election laws denied us; 



81 

•with our important offices prostituted to mere instruments of 
oppression ; with taxes and debt yearly increasing, and even 
the very channels of justice palsied by the pollution of despe- 
rate power, this great meeting is well explained and its duties 
well defined. It is the spontaneous revolt of the tax-payers 
and honest citizens who to-night erect the severe crucible for 
the redemption of our crushed municipality. It will be well 
for those in official trust who can pass the ordeal unscathed. 
It will not be well for those who have drawn the sword of 
organized wrong, for they will perish by the pitiless sword of 
the people. [Applause.] 

Let us to the battle ! Mere resolutions never won one. The 
heaviest battalions win the conflicts of men, when they are 
well directed. Banners may float and drills may extort admi- 
ration, and general orders and congratulations may please the 
fancy, but it is in the hand-to-hand struggle that the weake» 
give up the field. The people are ripe for this battle, but they 
cannot enter into its details in mass. They want to be wisely 
and courageously represented, and they will give their needed 
aid. Men who will be bold, skillful and vigilant must take the 
helm. They must be sleepless as crime itself; they must be as 
sagacious as the foe; they must mine and countermine, plot 
and counterplot, until the breach is made in the solid battle- 
ments of public wrong, and then the assault must be swift and 
relentless. [Applause.] 

There can be no parley in this war. It is broader and deeper, 
higher and holier in its issues than individuals or personal 
ambition. Men may weary or falter, but only to be forgotten, 
as an aroused community marches on over them to its just 
destiny. [Applause.] 

When the great Reform movement shall have selected its 

proper tribunal to meet from day to day, to go to the very 

fountain of official and individual frauds; when bold, skillful, 

indefatigable men draw the sword in the [name of the people, 

prepared to "fight it out on this line," [applause,] keep their 

own counsels and strike without fear, favor, or affection, the 

testimony is ready for them. [Sensation.] 
6 



82 

I repeat, the testimony is ready for them, and it will show 
official and individual movements to perpetrate wrongs and 
defeat justice, even in its own sanctuary, that will appal the 
citizens of Philadelphia. It has not gone to the Grand Jury 
for the best of reasons, which are well-known to this meeting. 
It will, however, go to a Grand Jury in the fullness of time, 
and it will then and there receive the sober attention the grave 
proofs will demand. [Applause.] 

To this work, to its grand consummation, let each pledge to 
the other his life, his fortune, and his honor, and the blessings 
of the living and the grateful approval of those who come after 
us, will tell that we have not lived and struggled in vain. 
j[Applause.] 

I would say more, but I am not able, and I can only bid you 
God speed in the noble work. [Prolonged applause.] 



83 



RETURNS OF THE ELECTION. 

The returns of the election gave Mr. Gray 891 majority, as 
follows : 

1871. 

Connell, R. Wartman, D. 



19th Ward, 


4,260 


1,902 


20th Ward, 


3,538 


2,364 


21st Ward, 


1,629 


904 


22d AYard, 


2,622 


1,440 


23d Ward, 


2,322 


1,452 


24th Ward, 


2,374 


1,897 


25th Ward, 


1,525 


1,753 


27th Ward, 


1,421 


907 


28th Ward, 


1,168 


899 




20,859 


13,518 




13,518 





Connell'smaj. 7,341 



1872. 


). Gray, R. 


McClure, Ref. R 


2,573 


1,730 


2,230 


1.450 


836 


1,246 


1,793 


1,403 


1,142 


1,403 


1,195 


1,404 


1,125 


1,125 


646 


1,037 


772 


623 


12,312 


11,421 


11,421 




>^'s maj. 891 





COL. GRAY CONGRATULATES HIMSELF. 

On the morning after the election the Philadelphia Inquirer 
printed as a verbatim report the following speech of Mr. Gray 
the evening of the election : 

" My friends, what has become of the hero of Chambersburg? 
We have achieved to-day a great victory ; we have fought the 
greatest battle since the dark days of the great rebellion, when 
the Republic was in danger. The great Republican party has 
triumphed. [Voice from the crowd — " Good enough, we want 
to hear about the figures."] We have met the disloyal ones 
in our ranks and have beaten them. The Chambersburg hero, 
during the war, fled from the rebels; he has now returned to 
his first love, the rebels, again. 

" My friends, I owe to you much. I am grateful to you for this 
success. You have not done this for me but for your country. 
The nation have been saved by you. You have sustained the 



84 

great Gen. Grant. You have sustained Gen. Cameron. You 
have defeated not only one who have proved himself disloyal, 
but you have defeated men disloyal to your party — disap- 
pointed men "who have turned about in your own ranks to fight 
you. 

. "I have went before the people on the platform of the great 
Republican party, and I mean to stand by the principles of 
that party. We have fought not only the hero of Chambers- 
burg, the Reformers and the Democrats, but also the corrupt 
press of Philadelphia, with a few honorable exceptions." 



On the morning after the election Mr. McClure published 
the following card, denouncing the election as controlled by 
fraud, and corruptly returned against him. His card was as 
follows : 

TO THE CITIZENS OF THE FOURTH SENATORIAL 

DISTRICT. 

The rings, repeaters and corrupt election officers surpassed 
their or^Jinary achievements yesterday, and Mr. Gray is 
counted as elecied Senator by 900 majority. 

A clear majority of the legal votes cast in every ward, 
excepting, perhaps, the Twenty-second, was cast for me, as I 
shall be fully prepared to prove before the proper tribunal. 

The police crowded the polls in localities where repeaters 
were to operate, and rounders, in the interest of the ring 
candidate, were protected by the police ; while policemen from 
other portions of the city, in citizen's dress, participated in 
the violence by which peaceable citizens were driven from the 
polls, and the polls given over to desperadoes. 

Window-men, ticket-men,- outside watchers selected by the 
citizens and active voters, were arrested without cause upon 
the slightest disorder created by the ballot stuflfers ; and in 
many precincts lawlessness reigned with the sanction and aid 



85 

of the officers charged with the protection of the citizens and 
the preservation of the public peace. 

In several instances the ballot boxes were broken up 
violently, and the election ended, because the majority of the 
votes cast were in favor of the Reform candidate. 

Gangs of repeaters, under the command of notorious leaders 
outside of the district, swarmed over the Nineteenth, Twentieth 
and Twenty-fifth wards, and citizens who dared to challenge 
them were insulted or assaulted by roughs, and arrested by 
the police, to remove all restraint upon illegal votes. 

Various election officers were absent, by arrangement, in the 
morning, and their places filled with the persons previously 
selected by the conspirators to receive the illegal votes. 

The votes cast were often miscounted, and when the hourly 
vote was announced and faithful window-men challenged the 
count, they were assaulted, their books and lists destroyed and 
the challengers driven from the polls. In numerous instances 
I will show by the testimony of voters that double the number 
of votes were cast for me in these particular hours than were 
declared by the officers. 

Hundreds of legal voters were refused the right to vote 
because they were not on the registry, in the face of the 
judicial decision that all legally qualified citizens could vote 
at a special election without reference to the registry. 

I ask the honest portion of the return judges to be vigilant 
and faithful to-morrow, and see that fresh frauds are not 
added to the wrongs by which I have been deprived of at least 
2,000 majority over Mr. Gray. 

I call upon all good citizens to unite with me in an earnest 
effort to vindicate the purity of the ballot, by the prompt 
exposure and punishment of these unblushing frauds. 

All who witnessed the lawlessness of the police, the violence 
of rounders, the voting of repeaters, the arrest of honest and 
peaceable citizens without cause other than to facilitate fraud, 
and the declaration of false returns from hour to hour, will aid 
the effort by giving names and data at once to the undersigned, 
at 144 South Sixth street. 



86 

■ 

I am authorized to say that the rewards offered by Colonel 
Jenks before the election, for information that will lead to the 
arrest and conviction of illegal voters, and the arrest and 
conviction of election officers who falsified returns and 
knowingly received illegal votes, will be promptly paid. 

I propose to pursue these frauds to the very fountain, and 
the perpetrators of them, high and low, shall not escape the 
punishment due to their crimes. 

A. K. McCLURE. 

January 30, 1872. 



The Republican Reform Committee followed with the sub- 
joined address: 

HEADQUARTERS 
REPUBLICAN REFORM COMMITTEE, 

144 SOUTH SIXTH STREET, 

Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1872. 

MOST STARTLING FRAUDS. 

Information has already been received to warrant the 
Committee in assumino; that the most unblushing frauds were 
perpetrated to insure the election of Mr. Gray, amounting in 
the aggregate to several thousand votes. 

It is intended to investigate these frauds most thoroughly, 
and we call upon every good citizen to furnish us all the 
information he can obtain relative to violence and frauds of 
every kind. 

The rewards announced by this Committee before the 
election, viz. : $50 for evidence that will lead to the conviction 
of every illegal voter, and $500 for information that will lead to 
the conviction of any election officer who has falsified the 
returns, will be promptly paid. 



87 

Citizens of Philadelphia, this is a contest for your property, 
jour safety and your honor, and it demands the co-operation 
of every honest man. 

By order of the Committee, 

BARTON H. JENKS, 

Chairman. 
J. H. T. Jackson, 

Secretary. 



The Democratic City Committee also published the follow- 
ing: 

HEADQUARTERS 
DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 

No. 619 WALNUT STREET, 

Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1872. 

TO THE DEMOCRATIC VOTERS OF THE FOURTH 
SENATORIAL DISTRICT. 

Any information concerning the fraudulent acts of electicn 
officers, or others, at the late special election for Senator in 
the Fourth district, should be at once communicated to me at 
the above address, with a view to the immediate prosecution of 
the offenders. 

ISAAC LEECH, 

Chairman. 
Robert C. Howell, 

Secretary. 



88 

THE STRUGGLE FOR A COMMITTEE. 

On the 8th of February, the petition of citizens of the 
Fourth Senatorial district was presented to the Senate, contest- 
ing Mr. Gray's right to the seat. Owing to an obviously acci- 
dental omission in the law providing for contested elections, in 
the Legislature, the petition was referred to the Judiciary 
Committee, to consider the question of jurisdiction, and to report 
by bill or otherwise. The Committee consisted of Messrs. 
White, Fitch and Mumma, Republicans, and Messrs. Wallace 
and Davis, Democrats. Messrs. Strang and Warfel, Republi- 
cans, and Purman and Buckalew, Democrats, were added to 
the Committee by resolutions of the Senate for the special 
consideration of the petition and the law. The question of the 
sufficiency of the then existing law was discussed before the full 
committee, by Hon. Louis W. Hall, for the petitioner, and by 
Hon. Amos Briggs for Mr. Gray — Mr. Briggs having first 
filed the following plea to the jurisdiction of the body under 
the law : 

"And now, February 9, 1872, the said Henry W. Gray, by 
his counsel and attorney, suggests and alleges that the Honor- 
able Senate has no jurisdiction or warrant of law to adjudge 
the matters and things in the petition of the said Alexan- 
der K. McClure, proposed to be presented, contesting the right 
of the said Henry W. Gray to his seat in the Senate. 

Amos Bkiggs, attorney for H. W. Gray." 

Three reports were made by the committee. The Republican 
members agreed on a report declaring the law inadequate to 
allow the petition to be received, and a committee drawn, and 
the Democratic members reported, declaring the law as ample, 
but Mr. Purman gave his special reasons for agreeing in his con- 
clusions with his Democratic colleagues. The whole issue was 
as to a strict or liberal construction of the Act of 2d of July, 
1839, which provides that no petition contesting a seat, "shall 
be acted upon by the Legislature, unless the same be presented 
Tfithin ten days after the organization of the Legislature next 



89 

succeeding the election." As the election, in this case, was not 
held until thirty days after the Legislature was organized, a 
literal compliance with the foregoing provision was impossible. 
The courts, in like cases, have held that the presentation of the 
petition ten days after the result was declared, was a full com- 
pliance with the act, but the majority of the Judiciary Com- 
mittee of the Senate were wiser than the law, and insisted that 
the petition could not be received without a special act to cover 
the case. A bill was reported by the majority of the same 
committee, providing for the election of a committee to try 
the case by the Senate, which would have made the tribunal 
to sit judicially upon a contested election case the mere crea- 
ture of a party caucus. Several motions made, from day to 
day, to proceed to draw a committee under the then exist- 
ing law, were voted down by a strict party vote — the Demo- 
crats voting for a committee and the Republicans, including 
Mr. Gray, against it. The bill reported by the Judiciary 
Committee was also lost by a tie vote, being a strict party 
vote. A simple bill, extending the time for drawing a com- 
mittee for five days (under the act of '39 it had to be drawn 
in five days after the presentation of the petition) passed the 
Senate unanimously, but it was amended in the House. The 
first amendment offered was the bill reported by the Judiciary 
Committee of the Senate, but it was lost by 8 votes. Another 
amendment was then offered, providing for the election of six of 
the seven members of the committee by the Senate, each Senator 
to vote for but three, and the seventh man to be chosen from 
thirteen names of Senators, practically to be selected by the 
Speaker, and the claimants to strike alternately until but one 
should remain. This amendment was carried by a small 
majority, but the Senate refused to concur. Committees of con- 
ference were then appointed — the Senate committee with 
instructions to accept Senator Billingfelt's bill as a special act 
for this case. The House committee refused to agree with the 
Senate Committee at the first meeting; but Mr. Billingfelt, 
having given notice that he would move his bill by resolution 
in the Senate, to select a committee in the exercise of the 



90 

supreme right of the Senate to judge of the qualifications of 
its own members, the House committee yielded, and the Bil- 
lingfelt bill became law to afford a remedy for this case only.* 
It practically authorized each party in the Senate to select 
three members of the committee, and the names of the remain- 
ing Senators, exfifipting the Speaker and the sitting member, 
were placed in a box, on folded slips, shaken up and thirteen 
drawn therefrom, whose names were written down as drawn 
by the clerk. The claimants then struck alternately from the 
list until but one name remained, and the person whose name 
remained was the seventh member of the committee. Under 
this bill the Democrats elected Messrs. Buckalew, Davis and 
Dill, the Republicans elected Messrs. White, Fitch andMumma, 
and Senator Brodhead, Democrat, was made the seventh mem- 
ber — the other twelve names drawn having been stricken by 
the claimants. A committee was thus finally secured on the 
21st of February, after two weeks of delay in the legislature. 
It is organized and constituted as follows: 



* The following letter was addressed to the Republican caucus on the subject: 

"Harrisbueg. Feb. 15, 1872. 
To Hon. G. B. Delamater, Chairman of Republican Senatorial Caucus. 

Dear Sir .— AW efforts to secure supplemental legislation to the act of 1839, relat- 
ing to contested elections, have failed. In order that there may be no reason for 
further delay on the ground that an unfair committee may be drawn under the 
e-xisting laws of chance, I propose, if the sitting member will assent, practically and 
completely, in point of fact, to have a committee selected informally in accordance 
with the provisions of Mr. Billingfelfs bill, for which every Republican Senator 
voted, and have it subsequently drawn in form in open Senate, under the provisions 
of the law of 1839, since it seems impossible to modify that law. I propose to have 
the committee first informally selected, in accordance with the provisions of -Mr. Bil 
lingfelt's bill, and upon the drawing in open Senate, to place the right to challenge and 
strike names in the hands of any two Senators, to be named by the respective parties, 
with the distinct understanding that they shall so challenge and strike the names of 
the Senators as to produce the selection of the committee informally agreed upon 
before the drawing. 

The inherent right of the Senate to judge the qualifications of its own members is 
above all law, and the Constitution is mandatory as to the duty. I have therefore 
proposed what would practically attain justice, and at the same time avoid incon- 
Bistency on the part of any Senator. 

Very truly, yours, 

A. K. McCLURE." 



91 

Charles R. Buckalew, of Columbia, Chairman, 

J. Depuy Davis, of Berks, 

A. H. Dill, of Union, 

A. G. Brodhead, Jr., of Carbon, 

Harry White, of Indiana, 

Lafayette Fitch, of Susquehanna, 

David Mumma, of Dauphin. 

When the names were about to be put in the box to draw 
the thirteen, Mr, Hall, counsel for the petitioners,, challenged 
Senator Delamater for cause. The following report is taken 
from the '■'■Legislative Record. " 

Mr. Louis W. Hall, counsel for Mr. McClure, raised the 
point that the name of Mr. Delamater (Rep.) should not go 
in the box, as he was paired with Mr. Knight, (Dem.,) who 
was still absent sick. 

Mr. Delamater explained that he did not regard himself 
as paired with that Senator, having terminated the pair.* He 
would gladly be excused from the responsibility of being drawn 
on this committee, even if his pair were still in force. He did 
not regard this a party matter. 

After some further discussion, in which Mr. Billingfelt 
(Rep.) thought Mr. Delamater's name should go in the box, 
the Speaker ruled that the law provides that all names shall 
go into a box except the Speaker and sitting member. 

Mr. Delamater's name was placed in the box, there being 
twenty-two names therein. 

The following thirteen were then drawn by the Clerk: — 
Messrs. Dechert, Dem. ; Wallace, Dem. ; Brodhead, Dem. ; 
McSherry, Dem.; Weakley, Rep. ; Crawford, Dem.; Anderson, 



* Mr. McCIure addressed a letter, on the 5th of March, to Senator Knight, proposing 
to him the following interrogatories : 

" Did you regard yourself as paired with Senator Delameter when the McClure-Gray 
Committee was drawn? Had you been in the Senate, and Mr. Delameter absent and 
sick, would you, under the circumstancesihave voted or allowed your name to go into 
the box?" 

On the 8th of March, Senator Knight answered as follows : 

" I most assuredly did [regard myself as paired with Senator Delameter,] and had 
I been in the Senate, and Mr. Delameter at home sick,. I would have refused to vote, 
or to allow my name to be placed in the box." 



92 

Rep. ; Billingfelt, Rep, ; Humphreys, Rep. ; Strang, Rep. ; 
Allen, Rep. ; Nagle, Dem. ; Randall, Dem. Republicans, 6 ; 
Democrats, 7. The parties to the contest then retired to strike 
off alternately till but one name should remain. 

Senator Findlay was also absent, and reported himself as 
paired with Senator Brooke. Mr. Brooke, however, denied that 
he was paired, and allowed his name to go into the box. When 
Mr. Findlay returned, Mr. Brooke acknowledged his error, and 
made the following explanation, which is also taken from the 
^^ Legislative Record." 

Mr. Brooke rose to make an explanation concerning the 
Senate, the Senator from Cumberland, the Senator from 
Somerset, and more especially himself. The practice of this 
body and of the other House from his earliest recollection, had 
been to allow members to absent themselves when sick or for 
other proper cause, when they deemed it necessary, by what is 
known as pairing. When we first exercised this privilege, 
twenty-eight years ago, the custom then required a notice to 
be left with the Clerk of the time and character of the pair, 
which was a good rule, and if in force now, he should not 
appear with this explanation. It was generally known that 
during the last two weeks he had been but little in his seat, 
owing to his suftering with the prevailing sickness, and he 
desired to say now that at no time during that period was he 
in a condition to be in this Chamber without being under the 
influence of stimulants; and he would further state that he had 
no doubt in his mind now that he was paired with the Senator 
from Somerset, (Mr. Findlay,) and that, in violation of that 
pair, he answered to his name and permitted it to go into the 
urn on Wednesday last. Now, when the body was in a com- 
paratively healthy coadition, and the mind composed, it was 
a most imperative duty that he should make a statement of 
what had transpired, so far as he could recollect. On 
Wednesday, the 14th, he left his chamber scarcely able to get 
to his room. As he passed out, feeling that he would not be 
able to be here in the after; oon, he asked the Senator from 
Somerset (Mr. Findlay) to pair with him, which he readily 



93 

agreed to. On the next morning, the Speaker, hearing of his 
sickness, visited him, and inquired if he was paired, to whom 
he represented this fact, and in the evening the Speaker 
informed him that Mr. Findlay had consented to continue the 
pair for that day, but objected to its continuance for any longer 
time. Subsequently he met the Senator from Cumberland, 
(Mr. Weakley,) and through him continued the pair. Of this 
he (Mr. Brooke) had no doubt, and yet he answered to his 
name. The inquiry was, why did he do that which, if know- 
ingly and wilfully done, would consign him to the contempt of 
all honest and honorable men ? His answer was, that at the 
time he so answered, he was utterly unconcious that he was so 
paired. In confirmation of this, he would state that when he 
came into this body, on Wednesday last, and begun to apply 
himself to preparing his calendar, he found that he had no 
recollection of anything that had transpired during the last 
week. He could not tell what bills had passed, what he 
had read in place, nor the condition of anything intrusted 
to his charge; he applied to the members of the House 
from this District, and especially to Mr. Harvey, to 
assist him, and he had even to apologize to the clerks in the 
transcribing room for his frequent interruptions ; as he would 
answer at the Great Day, he protested that he was entirely 
innocent of any wrong motives or intentions. 

Mr. Weakley confirmed the statement of Mr. Brooke as to 
his condition and the facts in the case. Col. McClure had 
called his attention to the fact that Mr. Brooke was paired 
with Mr. Findlay. He had written the latter a note, telling him 
that the pair was complete, When Mr. Brooke answered to 
his name, he called on him in surprise, informing him of the 
pair, but Mr. Brooke answered that the pair was terminated. 

Mr. Rutan also confirmed these statements. He had been 
in Mr. Brooke's room and knew his condition at the time. 

Mr. Wallace said that while he was not satisfied with the 
condition of the Senator, (Mr. Brooke,) he was perfectly satis- 
fied with the frank and honorable explanation. He was sorry 
for the gentleman's unfortunate illness. It was a matter of 



94 

honor between gentlemen, -vvliicli was now properly explained, 
in the usual frank and honest manner of the Senator from 
D -law are. 

Mr. Graham was satisfied that Mr. Brooke's mind was com- 
pletely confused at the time, owing to his severe illness, or he 
would have informed him (Mr. Graham) of the permanency of 
the pair when in his room. 

Mr. White corroborated the statements made, and exonerated 
Mr. Brooke from blame, as well as Mr. Findlay, who, under 
the circumstances, was not in his seat. This much was due to 
both gentlemen, whose course had been criticised in the public 
press. 



COL. GRAY CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION. 

A few days after the drawing of the committee, Mr. Gray 
published the following card : 

To the People of the Fourth Senatorial District. 

I have been returned as the duly elected Senator for this 
district. Certain citizens, in the exercise of their legal rights, 
allege that the return of my election is false, and that Mr. 
McClure is elected in my stead. The grounds alleged in the 
petition contesting my right to a seat in the Senate, are various 
frauds by the election officers, and the deposit of votes for me 
by persons unauthorized to cast them. Seven Senators of great 
intelligence and highest respectability have been selected by 
the Senate to try these allegations. 

In order to insure a thorough investigation, may I invoke 
the aid of all persons who are possessed of knowledge or infor- 
mation of frauds of any character in reference to said election, 
without regard to whom it affects, as I wish it to be understood 
that I heartily join in the strictest scrutiny for the detection 
of the frauds, were they committed as alleged. 

And I further say, the moment it shall be made apparent 
that my election was procured by fraud I will voluntarily retire 



95 

from the office. But having been returned, I apprehend that 
all will agree that it is my duty to retain the position till it 
shall be proven that another has a better title to it. Moreover, 
by so doing I may greatly aid in disclosing the frauds if aiy 
\^ere committed. 

I say this because it has been suggested to me to resign, and 
not to go through the form of resisting the effort to oust me, 
as I may regard it as a moral certainty that, the majority of 
the committee being composed of Democratic Senators, they 
will report against me, in order to destroy the Republican 
majority of the Senate, and in support of such belief, refer to 
the action of the Democratic Senators last year, in retaining 
Senator Dechert and refusing a hearing to the petitioners con- 
testing his right to a seat in the Senate. 

Whether such a suggestion be true or not the result only 
will verify. 

That my position has been one of great discomfort I think 
all candid persons will admit, in view of the persistent personal 
attacks that have been made upon me by several of the city 
press, from the moment of my nomination. And I cannot but 
feel that great injustice and permanent wrong have been done 
me in the estimation of those to whom I am personally 
unknown. 

In this connection, I cannot refrain from saying that in my 
judgment the office of an independent and high-toned press is 
to justly and candidly criticise the merits and demerits of those 
who are candidates for popular suffrage. Such is due to the 
public whom it seeks to instruct, and cannot be unfair even to 
the objects of its criticism. But the moment it passes beyond 
this point it ceases to be respectful and sinks to the level of 
personality, and becomes instead an engine of mischief, as 
well to the candidate as to the public, by its perverted teach- 
ings. 

In view of these attacks, I maybe pardoned for saying that, 
in my social and business intercourse, I have always com- 
manded general respect, and in this hour of trial I reflect with 
great satisfaction and pride that in those circles no one has 



96 

ventured an attempt to impeach my h»nor or question mj fair- 
ness. Nor can I banish the thought that, if men who command 
the respect and confidence of those who best know them in the 
private pursuits of life, are to become targets for abuse and 
caricature the moment they consent to be candidates for popu- 
lar favor, the time is not distant when worthy men will refuse 
to fill public positions, and those places be left entirely to the 
daring and unscrupulous. 

I was the candidate of the Republican party, and it is 
alleged that my election was procured by fraudulent votes. 
Similar charges have been preferred against that party at every 
election for the last several years. And now that a committee 
of intelligent and honorable Senators have been commissioned 
in my case to investigate alleged frauds committed under the 
auspices of the Republican party, let that investigation be 
searching and thorough, so that if said allegation shall be proven 
to be true, the wrong can be remedied by giving the seat to 
him who is entitled to it and the responsibility put where it 
belongs ; and if they be untrue, the blotch which such allega- 
tions cast upon the fair fame of the party may be erased and 
its good name made more honorable by their disapproval. 
And to this end I invite the co-operation of all good citizens 
of this district. HENRY W. GRAY. 



97 



THE FRAUDULENT RETURN BY PRECINCTS. 



NINETEENTH 



Prect. 
1 



8 

9 

Majority.. 
Si.tth prec 



Gray. 

9i 
91 

St 
158 
13S 

63 

14o 
111 



McClure. 

82 
67 
65 
54 
67 

102 

47 
54 



Preet. 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 



«ray. 

105 
205 
1(19 
137 

86 

55 

61 

92 

98 



WARD. 

McClure. 
82 

107 
70 
93 
55 

125 
47 
74 



Preet. 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 



Gray. 

86 
191 
181 
109 

67 

69 

86 



Pr 
1 
o 

3 
4 
5. 
6 



ect. 



uet missing. 
McClnre 



Total 2.573 

843 



Gray 
117 
VSi 
88 
194 
172 
153 



137 
66 

79 
68 

47 



TWENTIETH 

Prect. Gray- 

213 

103 

79 

129 

113 

164 



Prect. 
1 



Gr>iy. 

i)7 

34 
103 
116 



McClure. 

147 
171 
112 
103 



WARD. 

McClure. 

70 

73 

119 

84 

134 

140 

TWENTY-FIRST WARD. 

Prect. Gray. McClure- 

5 82 129 



9. 
10., 
11., 
12.. 



Prect. 

13 

14 

15 



Total 

Majority 



Gray. 
190 
158 
211 

2,2.30 
, 780 



McClure. 

62 

35 

120 

77 
84 
72 
45 

1,730 



McClurc- 
146 
91 
108 

1,450 



Prect. 
9 
10 



Gray. 

88 
32 



McClure- 
69 
52 



) 98 218 

■ 74 91 

., . . . i 142 154 Total 836 1,246 

Majority 41D 

TWENTY-SECOND WARD. 



Prect. 
1 



Gray. 
701 
115 
235 
164 
254 



McClure. 
98 
120 
126 
111 
114 



Prect. Gray 

6 188 

7 108 

8 135 

9 144 

10 93 

TWENTY-THIRD 



Prect. 

1 

2 



Prect- 
1 



Gray. 

34 

59 

84 
133 

92 



Gray. 

50 

66 

71 
103 
102 



McClure. 
106 
120 
116 
95 
111 



Prect. 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 



Gray. 
122 
113 

9". 

55 

183 



McClure. 
1.52 
110 
134 
190 
91 

WARD 

McClure 
153 

77 

86 

107 

203 



Prect. 

11 

12 



Gray. 

129 
125 



Total 1,793 

Majority, 390 



Prect. 

11 

12 



Gray. 

113 

64 



McClure. 
96 

89 

1,403 



McClure. 
103 
126 



Total 1,142 



1,403 



Majority, 261 



TWENTY-FOURTH WARD. 



McClure. 
1,58 
195 
136 
145 
98 



Prect. 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10. 



Gray. 

69 
116 

88 
48 



McClure. 

64 
47 

100 
47 

112 



Prect. 

11 

12 

13 

14 



Gray. 

92 
1.32 

25 
96 



McClure. 

94 

132 

76 

92 



Total.. 1,195 „._ 

Majority 209 

TWENTY-FIFTH WARD. 

McClure. Prect. Gray. McClure. Prect. Gray 

76 4 95 296 7 187 

86 ,5 134 58 8 106 

3 113 222 6 215 205 

Total 1,125 

TWENTY-SEVENTH WARD. 



Prect. 
1 



Gray, 
167 
108 
113 



1,404 



McClnro. 
139 
50 

1,125 



Prect. 
1 



Prect. 

1 

2 

i. '.'.'.'.'.'.'. 
4 



Gray. 

54 

, 108 

73 

77 

Gray. 

108 

87 
105 

75 



McClure. 

208 

75 

116 

231 



Prect 

5 

6 

7 

8 



Gray. 
40 
78 
32 
93 



McClure- 
97 
98 
90 
71 



Prect. 
9 



Gray. 

97 



Total 646 

Majority '391 



McClure. 

51 

1,037 



TWENTY-EIGHTH WARD. 



McClure- 
74 
C6 
33 
40 



Prect. 

5 

6 

7 



Gray. 
58 
92 
41 
90 



McClure- Prect. 



29 

72 

109 

145 



Total 

Majority. 



Gray, 

106 

772 
149 



McCIure- 
50 



98 



RECAPITULA.TION OF VOTE. 

The following is a recapitulation of the vote as returned, 
and also as corrected bj the Senate Committee: 





VOTE 


RETURNED. 


VOTE 


CORRECTED. 


Wards- 


Ghat. 


McClure. 


Gray. 


McClure 


19 


2,573 


1,730 


2,079 


1,'594 


20 


2,230 


1,450 


1,323 


1,037 


21 


836 


1,246 


836 


1,246 


22 


1,793 


1,403 


1,304 


1,163 


23 


1,142 


1,403 


1,142 


1,403 


24 


1,195 


1,404 


1,195 


1,404 


25 


1,125 


1,125 


1,125 


1,125 


27 


646 


1,037 


646 


1,037 


28 


772 


623 


772 


623 



12,312 11,421 10,422 10,632 

Gray's maj., 891 McClure's maj., 210 



99 



THE TESTIMONY. 



NINETEENTH AVARD — TAVENTIETH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 191 ; McClure, 35, Of the voters 
whose names were returned as having voted, 93 testified that 
they voted for McClure, and 12 names of citizens were voted 
on bj repeaters. 

NINETEENTH WARD — EIGHTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 145; McClure, 47. 67 testified that 
they voted for McClure, and 25 citizens' names were voted on 
by repeaters. 

NINETEENTH WARD FOURTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned.— Gvaj, 158 ; McClure, 54. The eight o'clock 
return gave McClure 7 votes, and 12 citizens who voted during 
that hour, and were so marked on the list, testified that they 
voted for McClure, and the names of 11 citizens were voted on 
by repeaters. 

TWENTIETH WARD — FOURTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned.— Gray, 194; McClure, 79. Ill citizens 
testified that they voted for McClure, and the names of 22 
citizens wer^ voted on by repeaters. 

TWENTIETH WARD — SEVENTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 2J3; McClure, 70. 85 citizens tes- 
tified that they voted for McClurp, and the names of 13 citi- 
zens were voted on by repeaters. 



100 

TWENTIETH WARD — FIFTEENTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 211; McClure, 108. The names of 
IT citizens were voted on by repeaters, and 135 testified that 

they voted for McClure. 

TWENTIETH AYARD — FIRST DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 117; McClure, 88. The names of 
7 citizens were voted on by repeaters. The nine o'clock return 
gave McClure 11 votes, and 15 citizens testified that they voted 
for him during that hour; eleven o'clock return, 4 for McClure, 
testimony gave him 5 ; five o'clock return, 3 for McClure, 
testimony gave him 4; six o'clock return, 8 for McClure, 
testimony gave him 10. 

TWENTIETH WARD — FIFTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 172; McClure, 68. The names of 
4 citizens were voted on by repeaters. The three o'clock 
return gave McClure 2, testimony gave him 4; four o'clock 
return gave him 5, testimony gave him 14; six o'clock return 
gave him 6, testimony gave him 12. 

TWENTY-SECOND WARD — THIRD DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 235; McClure, 126. Eight o'clock 
return gave McClure 9, testimony gave him 13; one o'clock 
return gave him 15, testimony gave him 20. 

TWENTY-SECOND WARD — FIFTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 254; jMcClure, 114. The one o'clock 
return gave McClure 12, testimony gave him 17; five o'clock 
return gave him 5, testimony gave him 6. 

NINETEENTH WARD — THIRD DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 85; McClure, 55. The names of 16 
citizens were voted on by repeaters. The ten o'clock return 
gave McClure 4 votes — 5 citizens testified that they voted for 
him. 



101 

TWENTY-FIFTH WARD — FIFTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 134; McClure, 58. The names of 
6 citizens were voted on by repeaters. The twelve o'clock 
return gave McClure 4 — 5 citizens testified that they voted for 
him. 

NINETEENTH WARD TWENTY-SECOND DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 109; McClure, 79. The names of 
4 citizens were voted on by repeaters, and the eight o'clock 
return gave McClure only 3 votes, when 4 had been cast for 
him. 

TWENTY-SECOND WARD ?IXTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 188; McClure, 152. The ten o'clock 
return gave McClure but 10 votes,- when 13 had been cast for 
him. 

NINETEENTH WARD — TWENTY-FIFTH DIVISION. 

Vote returned. — Gray, 86; McClure, 45. 4 votes were cast 
for McClure during the 10 o'clock hour, and but 1 returned. 

NINETEENTH WARD — FIFTH DIVISION. 

The names of 6 citizens were voted on by repeaters. 

NINETEENTH WARD — TENTH DIVISION. 

The names of 7 citizens were voted on by repeaters. 

The general testimony as to the control of the election proved 
that the City, State and Federal officers, and the police force, 
were the chief sources of the frauds. Officials ineligible as elec- 
tion officers acted as olficers, and made false returns, headed by 
protected and paid repeaters, and the police, as a rule, arrested 
honest citizens who attempted to defeat fraud. A number of 
them repeated themselves, and squads of them were at the 
polls in citizens' dress to obstruct McClure votes, and aid in 
executing the various frauds planned in official circles. 



102 



kj 



MB. McCLURE ADMITTED. 

On the 27th of March Mr. Buckalew, Chairman of the 
Select Committee to trj the case, presented the following pre- 
liminary report: 

The Committee selected to try the matter of the petition contesting 
the election of Henry W. Gray, as Senator from the Fourth District, 
malvc report: 

That having heard the parties in the case, and taken testimony upon 
the jjoints in controversy between them, the Committee have this day 
adopted the following resolution as their judgment and determination 
in tlie case : 

Besolved, That the return of Henry W. Gray, as Senator from the 
Fourth Senatorial District, is false and fraudulent, and that at the 
special election in said District, on the 30th day of January last, 
Alexander K. McClure did receive a majority of the legal votes cast 
therein, and is entitled to his seat in the Senate to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the death of Hon. George Connell, late Senator elect 
from said District. 

C. R. Buckalew, 

J. D. Davis, 

A. H. Dill, 

A. G. Brodhead, Jr. 

Mr. Buckalew stated that a more extended report would 
be made at another time- 
Mr. McClure was then sworn as Senator from the Fourth 
District, in place of Mr. Gray. 

- Subsequently, an elaborate report was made by the Senators 
who had signed the preliminary report; and a minority report, 
signed by Senators White, Mumma and Fitch, was also pre- 
sented, dissenting from the conclusions of the majority. 



OPEimTG ARGUMENT FOR CONTESTANT. 



BY HENRY S. HAGERT. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: — 

The duty has been assigned to me of opening the argument in this case 
on behalf of the contestant; and while I should have preferred that some 
one of my colleagues, who are better fitted for that task, had undertaken 
it, yet as I am always ready to discharge any professional duty which 
may devolve upon me,»I cheerfully accept the position which the very 
nattering pieference of my client and my associates has assigned to me. 
I do this with less reluctance because I am conscious, from the care and 
attention which this committee have heretofore bestowed upon this case, 
that my labors will be considerably lightened, and that I shall be required 
to pay less attention to the details of the evidence than under other circum- 
stances the necessities of the case might seem to require. 

I have for a long time entertained the opinion that a case which is well 
tried, is generally lost or won when the evidence is closed ; and if this 
view be correct as regards ordinary proceedings before ordinary tribunals, 
I think I can with safety predicate it, of a body composed as this is, of 
gentlemen of intelligence and legal learning, and with large experience in 
the trial of questions of this character. 

I do not propose, gentlemen, to weary you with a minute examination 
of the testimony. I assume that it is fresh in your lecoUections. and I 
propose simply in the outset to glance at the general features of the con- 
test out of which this case arose; and next, to take up the testimony a^ 
applicable to the several divisions which are assailed in the petition, and 
to endeavor to satisfy your minds as to the disposition which should be 
made of those divisions, and finally to compute the result. 

This is an important proceeding. It is important, not so much with 
reference to the particular individual who is to held a seat in this chamber 
in the future, but because this is the first instance in which an opportu- 
nity has been offered to expose to a body so respectable as a committee of 
the Senate of Pennsylvania, a system of frauds v^hich has grown up in 



104 

the City of Philadelphia uuder the operation of the Registry Law of 1869, 
and which threatens eventually to destroy the entire freedom of elections. 

Prior to the date of that Act, there were occasional complaints of fraudu- 
lent practices at the elections held in that city ; yet as these frauds were 
generally committed in the interests of both political parties, they neutral- 
ized each other, and the result was that in a majority of instances the 
honest vote got its own. The previous legislation of the Commonwealth 
had been mamly directed, from time to time, to altering and amending the 
election laws so as to cure existing defects, and to secure, as far as was 
possible, a free and unbiassed expression of opinion by the citizens at the 
polls. Among other measures there had been introduced the system of 
hourly returns, which is peculiar to the City of Philadelphia, and it had 
been provided that the returns from the several election divisions should 
be made to the ward conventions on the morning succeeding the election, 
by the judges and inspectors of each division, so that both political parties 
should be represented in those conventions, and that no opportunity should 
be aftbrded for falsifying or fabricating returns in the course of their trans- 
mission from the poll to the place of ward meeting. By the Act of April 
22d, 1858, this salutary check was removed, and the precinct returns were 
entrusted to the care of the judge of the division'alone, who, being uuder 
no supervision, could tamper with the returns as the mterest or necessities 
of his party might dictate; and thus a door was opened to frauds, of which 
bad men of both parties have not scrupled to avail themselves. 

After this came other changes in the law not less pernicious, and finally 
the crowning act of the series, the Registry Law of 18G9. 

That law, professedly framed and passed (as all legislation on this 
question should be framed and passed) in the interest of honest and fair 
elections, was designed and calculated for the sole purpose of perpetuat- 
ing the control of politics in the City of Philadelphia in the hands of the 
men then in power ; and to effect that object it was, I think, as well-devised 
a scheme as it was possible for human ingenuity to conceive. 

Let us for a few moments examine the operation of this act, for it lies 
at the foundation of the frauds which have been disclosed in this investi- 
gation, and we shall then be better able to comprehend how those frauds 
were contrived and consummated. 

• Before the passage of the Registry Act, every man whose name 
appeared upon the assessors' list was joHma /aeie entitltd to a vote. If 
a doubt existed as to his right, he might be challenged at the polls, when 
his right would be determined in pubHc by sworn triers of both parties, 
upon proof under oath; and this open and public challenge and trial, 
while it wronged no legal voter, secured us in a great measure from false 
personations and fraudulent voting. The Registry Act took away this 
right of challenge and this open trial, upon the most important point of 
all, the question of residence; and made the canvassers lists, prepared in 



,105 

secret by a political majority of the canvassers in each division, the sole 
and exclusive test of residence, from which tliere was no appeal, and to 
which no exception could be taken. Under the old law, the citizen whose 
name had been omitted from the assessors list, whether by accident or 
design, could go to the polls upon election da}^ produce his neighbors and 
friends, arid through them establish his right to a vote. Under the Eegis- 
try Law no such provision exists to guard the citizen against the ignorance, 
carelessness or oppression of the division canvassers. If his name is not 
found upon the canvassers list, he is practically disfranchised. He ceases 
to have a right to vote. The exercise of his right depends upon the fact of 
his name appearing on the list. 

Unde]' the old lavv the lists were prepared by the assessors of the differ- 
ent wai-ds. These officers, two in number for each ward, represented the 
two political parties, and acted as a check upon each other in the prepa- 
ration of the lists, excluding doubtful cases, and preventing the introduc- 
tion of fictitious names. If by accident the names of legal voters had been 
omitted, they were added at an extra session of the assessors, or the citizen 
could establish his right at the polls. Under this system reasonable and 
tolerable accuracj' was secured in the voting lists, but when the Registry 
Law came to be adopted, a new mode of assessment was provided, and 
there were selected in each division three canvassers, to whom the duty 
was assigned of preparing the voting lists. 

The office of assessor, under the old law, had been a permanent office 
with a reasonable annual salary, and the assessors elected under the 
law were generally men of respectabdity and standing, well acquainted 
with the residents of their several wards. Under the Registry Act, the 
canvassers, occupied only for a few days in the canvass of their several divi- 
sions, and receiving only a few dollars of compensation, have no interest in 
making a careful and correct canvass, and are not always competent so to 
do. They are three in number for each election division, two in each 
division being of the political majority of the Board of Aldermen, by 
whom they are appointed, and the third representing the political minority. 
It is the fact ttiat the choice of these canvassers has been taken f.om 
the people and entrusted to the Board of Aldermen of the City of Philadel- 
phia, which lies at the root of the evil effects of this law, because it has 
thereby ensured that the majority of these canvassers in every divisioa 
shall be of the same political party. At the time this law was passed, and 
ever since, nearly two-thir-ds of the Board have belonged to the one political 
party; and hence, when they came to select the division canvassers, as 
each alderman had the right to vote for two men, two of the three can- 
vassers in each division came to be of the same political faith as the 
majority of the Board. 

With division canvassers so selected and constituted, it was an inevitable 
result that no man's name could get upon the lists unless he met with the 



106 

approbation of a majority of the canvassers of his division. If he vrasof the 
same party as the majority canvassers, no difficulty vras interposed. If he 
was not, objections were started, which ended in his rejection ; or if his 
name was placed upon the list, it was subsequently stridden oflF, it might be 
without hearing or notice. For although the Registry Law provides that 
names are to be stricken off only upon notice and proof, it has failed to 
specify the length or kind of notice, and this omission the shrewd politi- 
cians of the dominant party have not been slow to avail themselves of. 
By a pre-arranged plan, notices piepared beforehand have been sent to the 
residences of citizens, in the various divisions of the city, within a few 
hours of the closing of the lists, and at a time when the citizens were 
absent at thiir places of business, notifying them to appear forthwilh, or 
be stricken from the lists, and before the notice has reached the hands of 
the citizen, his name has been stricken off, and his right to vote taken 
away. How valuable an auxiliaiy this is to party success will be evident, 
if you reflect that there are 380 election divisions in the City of Philadel- 
phia, and that the rejection of only ten names from each division list is a 
practical gain of 3,800 votes to the party controlling the lists. 

These are a few of the evils which have resulted from the operation of 
the Registry Law, so far as they are connected with the action of the can- 
vassers. One would suppose that a political party which had secured so 
powerful an mstrument for the perpetuation of its supremacy, would be 
content with the advantages to be gained from this source, since, in closely 
contested elections, they would be decisive of the result ; but in this lowest 
depth there is a lower deep, and the injustice and partiality of this law 
penetrates even into the polls, and taints the men who are to be selected to 
conduct the election. 

You have heard something, in the course of this proceeding, of the mode 
in which the election oflBcers are chosen. You have seen with what fidelity 
the Act of Assembly has been i-egarded by the appointing Board ; for while 
the law intended that the minority on that Board should have the selection 
of their own election officers, that right has been persistently denied to 
them by the majority. You have seen the spectacle of the minority nomi- 
nating good men — men of intelligence, and enjoying the confidence of their 
party — only to have their choice disregarded, and to find themselves 
deprived of any voice in the appointments The majority of the Board of 
Aldermen have steadily arrogated to themselves the right to choose officers 
to represent the minoiity as well as the majority, and whom have thej^ 
selected ? 

You have had before you in the course of this investigation two wit- 
nesses produced here on the part of the respondent, both of whoin voted 
for Mr. Gray, and one of them for Mr. Stokley ; both of them Republicans 
in politics ; and both of these men had been selected by the Board of Alder, 
men as Democrats, to represent the minority as officers of election. 



107 

You have had the evidence of the three aldermen who appeared before 
the Committee— Aid. Dougherty, Aid. Delaney and Aid. Helm, who have 
told you that the appointments made as representing the Democratic party 
have been of men who were not Democrats in principle; men who had 
not the confidence of the party, and who could not be trusted ; and who 
were incompetent and otherwise disqualified Those of us who know the 
history of these selections in the City of Philadelphia, know that the halt 
and the blind, the old and the infirm, and men unable to read and write 
have been selected to lepresent the Democratic party inside the polls, while 
the Republican party has been represented by its shrewdest, most acute, 
most intelligent, and often by its most unscrupulous men. 

Such, gentlemen, is the condition of things in Philadelphia under the 
Registry Law when the day of election arrives, but the mischief does not 
end here ; for when the polls close other perils to the purity and fairness 
of the election present themselves, and to which allusion has already been 
made. 

I refer to the frauds which are practised in the alteration of the returns, 
and the production of false and fabricated returns at the meetings of the 
Return Judges. These frauds are matters of judicial history in the City 
of Philadelphia. In the case of John H. Brill, who was tried and con- 
victed for an election fraud, and subsequently pardoned by the Governor 
of the Commonwealth, it was shown that Brill, being Judge of an election 
in the Sixteenth Ward, in OctobeJ', 1870, produced at the meeting of the 
Ward Judges a fraudulent and fabricated return, and not the return which 
had been entrusted to him at the closing of the polls. T happened to be 
engaged professionally in that case, and am familiar with the fiicts of it, 
and the evidence there disclosed the fact that in a division where the 
Republican party had a majority of about 40 on a portion of the ticket, 
and the Democrats a similar majority on another portion of the ticket, and 
where there had been on the day of the election a great deal of cutting of 
tickets, the return handed in by the Return Judge showed a uniform vote 
for every man on the Republican ticket of 230, and for every man on the 
Democratic ticket of 46 votes ; and this case does not stand alone. This 
mischief results from the fact that these returns are entrusted to a single 
individual, upon whose dishonesty there is practically no check. The 
Judges of the other divisions of the Ward may know nothing outside of 
the return for their own divisions, and cannot tell whether the return pro- 
duced from another division be true or false; and when the Ward return is 
made up to be carried to the Board of Return Judges for the whole city, 
it is, in like manner, liable to be tampered with. So bold, indeed, have 
they become from a long course of immunity from punishment that returns 
have been brought in to the Board of Return Judges from the different 
Wards, differing 500 or 600 votes from the returns as filed by the same 
ofiicers in the office of the Court of Common Pleas ; and that for no other 



108 

reason, than that the friends of one of the candidates had bets upon his 
majority, and the vote has been altered in order to save their bets. 

It is under such a system of election laws as this that the election for 
Senator from the Fourth District was conducted, and it is important that 
you should know and understand it, in order that you may the better 
perceive how this system was used, abused and prostituted in the interest 
of Col. Gray at that election. 

Let us glance for a moment at the condition of things in the City of 
Philadelphia shortly prior to the election. We, who live there, know, 
although it is not here in evidence before you, that there was a pretty 
warm contest for the senatorial nomination in the Republican party. We 
know that in the convention which nominated Col. Gray, such a state of 
things existed as was discreditable to any political party. The room in 
which the convention was held, and its approaches, were taken possession 
of by the police force of the City of Philadelphia; and here it is that we 
first see the interference of that force in behalf of the sitting member. A 
lieutenant of police with a body of men occupied the stairs leading to the room 
in which the convention sat. They questioned delegates, and exercised a 
supervision over persons claiming seats in the convention. Inside of the 
room the officers of the convention were protected by a high, solid barri- 
cade built across the room, in order that their books and papers should be 
secure from seizure, and from behind this barricade the questions were 
put to the meeting and the vote taken. That was the inception of this 
business, and in its inception we find the police force, the Post Office, the 
Custom House, the Navy Yard, and the officers of the city, State and gen- 
eral government warmly interested in behalf of Mr. Gray, the sitting 
member. 

Col. Gray was nominated by that body. Such a state of things had 
existed in the convention as excited the indignation of the respectable 
portion of the Republican party in the City of Philadelphia. They were 
not satisfied that tlieir nominations should be made by these men and in 
this way ; and consequently they looked about for a candidate who should 
represent them, and finally settled upon our friend, Col. McClure, who 
received at their hands an independent Republican nomination. The 
Democratic party made no nomination, as the district had been largely 
Republican. They not only made no nomination, but as the evidence 
disclosed to you, they made no contribution for election purposes. They 
had nobody to assess if they had wanted to assess anybody. There is 
not, so far as I remember, at this time a single Democratic officer in the 
City of Philadelphia. The canvass, so far as Col. McClure was concerned, 
had to be, and was, carried on almost solely with his own means. It is 
important that the committee should bear this in mind, when they come 
to consider the use which has been made of money in this election. 

The canvass was a short one, and occupied but a few days. Prior to 



109 

the election the friends of Col. Gray were earnest in their efforts to secure 
his success : and they have never ceased, up to this moment, their efforts 
in his behalf. They are here now in this chamber, as they were present 
during the examination, active and vigilant in his support. Tbis is not 
Col. Gray's fight. It has never been his tight. It is their fight. It is 
the fight of the men in office under the city, State and general government. 
It is their fight for life against the new popular movement which looks to 
the purification of parties and the freedom of elections. 

The day of election arrived, and the contest whicli was confined to a single 
senatorial district, which concerned an office possessing no power or pat- 
ronage, became at once a matter of general interest to the professional 
politicians. The police force, and the departments of the city and of the 
general government, were heavily assessed : the row officers were assessed ; 
and Col. Gray himself was called on to contribute a sum nearly equal to 
the whole salary of his office. There was raised for the purposes of the 
campaign, Mr. Hong tells you, from the police force and city departments 
and from Mr. Gray, the sura of $3,400. This does not inchide the row 
offices, or the district attorney's office, or the private contributions of the 
friends of Col. Gray ; but adding these assessments and contributions to 
the qB3,400 mentioned by Mr. Hong, and the aggregate could not have 
been less than $5,000 or $6,000, and probably did not fall short of $8,000 
or S9,000. 

How was this large sum of money expended ? Mr. Hong tells you that 
$100 went to the wards, which as there are nine wards in the district, 
would absorb $900 ; and that $10 went to each of the divisions, which 
makes $1,140 more, making together the sum of $2 040 of this money, 
which may have been consumed in the honest and legitimate expenses of 
the election. What became of the balance, whatever it may be, it is for 
this committee to consider when they come to examine the question of the 
employment of professional repeaters at this election. This matter of 
contributions is important in two lights. First, as showing the interest 
which these different departments and the officials took in this elect on: 
and secondly, in showing the means in their hands to operate, as we con- 
tend they did operate, to defeat Col. McClure. 

The thing which most prominently strikes our view is the active inter- 
position and intervention of the police force of the city on behalf of Col. 
Gray. We find, from the testimony, that a very singular scene was 
enacted on the evening preceding the election. We find that on that even- 
ing his Honor, the Mayor of the city, attended the ball of the Hartranft 
Club of the Tenth Ward ; and in his testimony before the committee he 
stated, that certain friends of Col. Gray, whose names he does not know, 
desired him to allow the police force to be sent into certain divisions of the 
Twenty.fifth Ward in citizens' dress. His Honor tells us that he at first 
disapproved of it, and gives as a reason for preferring to send them in uni- 



110 

form, that he "thought it would discourage the one side and encourage the 
other.'' Which side his Honor preferred to discourage and which to encou- 
rage, I leave to the astuteness of the gentlemen of this committee to discover. 
But the police were on the ground not only in uniform for that purpose ; 
they were there also in citizens' dress for the same purpose, as the testi- 
mony abundantly shows. 

Then comes the next and most singular scene in this connection. His 
Honor goes home at one o'clock in the morning, and at his house he finds 
a member of the Democratic City Executive Committee, whose name, also, 
he does not give us, who hands him a McClure or Democratic ticket. I 
wish his Honor had been able to furnish us with the name of that member 
of the Democratic City Executive Committee who carried that ticket to 
Mr. Stokley. All of us in Philadelphia know the value attached to the 
safe keeping of the tickets prior to election day, lest they fall into the 
hands of political adversaries, who imitate the headings and impose spuri- 
ous tickets upon voters at the polls. Furnished with this ticket, his 
Honor returns at one o'clock in the morning to the ball room, and hands 
that ticket to the friends of Col. Gray. There could have been only one 
use made of such a ticket procured at such a time and in such a manner, 
and the evidence in this case shows that tickets similar to Col. McClure's, 
with Gray stickers pasted upon them, were electioneered as McClure 
tickets on the day of election. 

But the police, Mr. Chairman, did not obey the directions of his Honor, 
the Mayor, if he refused them permission to go to the polls in citizens' 
dress; for the evidence in this case shows you that policeman John Ward, 
ex-prize-tighter, and other officers from the Fifth Ward, went into the fourth 
division of the Twenty-fifth Ward by directions received from Capt. Clark 
on the previous afternoon, in citizens' dress ; and Lieut. Smith took with 
him into the second division of the Twenty-seventh Ward a sergeant and 
five men in citizens' dress to do police duty; while all over this fourth 
district, on the 30th of January, we fli.d the police in great numbers, some 
of them in uniform and some in citizens' dress. 

Let us for one moment see the part they played in this transaction. 
Were they at the polls simply to preserve the peace? Were they at the 
polls merely to protect honest voters? No! You find them inside the 
polls acting as election officers in violation of law. You find them outside 
of the polls interfering with voters. You find them dragging voters out 
of the line, who were entitled to be there, and thrusting men into the line 
who had no right to be there. You find them bringing up men who are 
proven to be repeaters, and vouching for them. You find them arresting 
citizens upon idle and fruitless charges, taking them to the station houses, 
locking them up, and keeping them locked up until the polls closed, because 
they were active in bringing out the Democratic voters of their divisions. 
You find them keeping voters away from the polls who came there to cast 



Ill 

their honest ballots. You find them as judges and inspectors of election, 
altering votes and substituting ballots, and you find them everywhere on 
that day doing everything they ought not to do, and doing nothing that 
they ought to do. I say this, because the evidence in this case fully sus» 
tains me. You see men from the reserve force, and men from the lower 
Wards, posted and planted all over this District, and you see nowhere any 
indication that there was any violence or disturbance, or difficulty appre- 
hended on that day. On the contrary, it was a peaceful and quiet election, 
at which only a small vote was polled, less than one-half the ordinaiy vote 
of the District, and if ever there was an occasioH where the interference 
of the police force was unnecessary it was on the 30lh of January last. 

But it is not alone the police force who are seen to be active. You see 
the other departments of the City of Philadelphia taking part in this 
election. You see Mr. Martin, of the Water Department, threatening an 
election officer. You see Mr. HoUick, of the Gas Department, leadmg a 
gang of repeaters. You see Riley and Souders, of the Custom House, and 
McManus, of the Paid Fire Department, similarly employed. You find 
another of the Paid Fire Department turned repeater and voting. You 
find Mr. Fields, of the Register of Wills' office, voting on another man's 
name. You find Mr. Bunn, the Register of Wills, taking an illegal voter 
to the pol!s to vote, and you find that vote rejected. You find Mr. Ash, 
of the Highway Department, leading a band of repeaters. You find Aid. 
Smith and Mr. Geisel, of the Post Office, trying to bribe an election offi- 
cer in their division. You find Mr. Titterinary, of the Auditms' Depart- 
ment, paying his repeaters in the neighborhood of Tenth and G rard ave- 
nue. You find the Collector of Delinquent Taxes, on the testimony of 
Mr. Gray himself, implicated to procure witnesses from the City of New 
York to give evidence in this contest. You find Conner, of the Sheriff"'s 
OfiBce, engaged also in the business of repeating. You find Aid Lutz from 
the First Ward, transformed for the time into Dr. Luiz, and similarly en- 
gaged. You find Mr. Sauerman, the Recorder of Deeds' Clerk, vouching for 
repeaters. You find the {commissioner of Highways, Mr. Rittenhouse, occu- 
pied during the whole of that day, in furnishing names on which repeat- 
ers voted, and giving them Gray tickets. You find Deputy Coroner Sees 
procuring tax receipts for men to vote on. You find ^NIcDade, of the Fire 
Deoartment, voting on the name of Anderson. Yuu find Geisel, of the 
Post Office, engaged in the substitution of tickets. You find Didier and 
Benson, of the Navy Yard, acting as Judge and Inspector of election. 
You find Estling. of the Gas Office, acting as an election officer, paying 
repeaters and trying to bribe the window book man to stay away from 
the polls. You find Mr. Taylor, the Sealer of Weights and Measures, 
acting as judge of election. You find Mr. Lybrand, of the Post Office, 
intimidating voters. You find Mr. Atkinson, of the Navy Yard, acting 
inside as election jfficer, and Mr. Hackett, of the Post Office, giving tickets 



112 

and residences to be voted on. You find Mr. Jenkins, of the Post Office, 
electioneering McClure tickets with Gray's name pasted over them, in order 
that simple-minded voters may be misled. You find the same man vouch- 
ing for Policeman Arnold while voting on another man's name. You find 
Kochersperger, of the United States Appraisers' Department, and Adair, 
Garrison, Jacoby and Dean, of the Navy Yard, acting as inspectors of 
election, and finally you find Gilbert, of the Navy Yard, rounding and 
completing this wretched history, by endeavoring to buy a gentleman con- 
nected with the Press to give a one-sided and unfair statement of the testi- 
mony in this cause. All through this election, you see the men who are 
at the bottom of this contest. It is not Col. Gray, it is the Post Office, 
the Custom House, the Navy Yard, the Police Department, the Register 
of Wills, the Recorder of Deeds, and the Sheriff's Offices who are in this 
contest. It is their fight, and not Col. Gray's fight. 

Now, it is shown, in addition to this active intervention and interference 
by these difierent officers, that all during the day, wherever a poll was 
opened in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Wards, and in the other wards 
lying to the east of the River Schuylkill, there wcre^rganized gangs of re- 
peaters in numbers of from 2 up to 10 or 12, led, some of them, by the men 
I have named, and others of them acting independently, busily going from 
poll to poll, and depositing their votes for one of these candidates — for 
which of the candidates I will show you by an examination of the figures 
in this case, and by the evidence of Mr. Fletcher and others, who saw them 
vote Met lure tickets with a Gray sticker pasted over Col. McClure's 
name. 

It is a singular thing in this case, and 1 want this Committee to bear it 
in mind, that while the contestant has challenged contradiction from the 
men whom I have named, and who are here charged with complicity in 
these frauds, our opponents have not had the courage to produce them 
upon the stand to deny the truth of these charges. With all these men 
right at their beck, with some of them in the very I'oom where this Com- 
mittee was in session, they have not ventured to call upon them to deny 
the justice of these accusations. 

And who were the witnesses called by us to establish these facts ? They 
were not police officers, custom house employees or post office officials 
interested ia the contest, but hard fisted, industrious and sober citizens — 
men who came bef »re you with the sweat of labor upon their brow and 
the soil of their day's work upon their hands ; the owners of little proper- 
ties in their several divisions, who had voted or attempted to vote, and 
had seen these frauds committed, and their most sacred rights struck 
down by paid bands of ruffians and repeaters ; and to contradict these wit- 
nesses they have not dared to introduce even the unreliable and rickety 
testimony of the men who were engaged in these nefarious transactions. 
Let us next glance at what occurred inside of the polls. T have shown 



1 1 ?. 

you how the election officers were selected. I have shown you the machi- 
nery which was used inside and outside of the polls, and with such machi- 
nery what else was to have been expected but just such a state of things 
as has been proven in this case. You haye had evidence here that old and 
well-known citizens were refused the right to vote. You have had evi- 
dence that the votes of men were received who were not legal voters in the 
division, without examination, without inquiry, against protest and chal- 
lenge, and without legal proof of qualification, in direct violation of 
every provision of the election law. You may search all these voting lists, 
and you will not find upon one-half of them the name of any man put 
down as vouched for, although challenges were Irequent on the part of 
Col. McClure's friends. But that is not all. Not content with receiving 
the votes of men not entitled to vote, and rejecting the votes of men who 
were entitled, you hsive seen by undoubted evidence in this case that after 
the ballots had been put into the window they were changed ; that other 
ballots were slipped from the coat sleeves and vest pockets of the election 
officers, and Gray tickets substituted for the McClure tickets which had 
been deposited by the voters ; that in one case when Sergeant Humphrey, 
acting as Judge, was detected in the act of changing a ticket and was 
charged by the citizen with so doing, he ran outside, knocked down the 
citizen, and put him in the custody of three officers, who dragged him from 
the polls. You have seen also that tickets have been changed or with- 
diawn alter they were deposited in the box; and all of these frauds, with- 
out exception, are shown to have been committed against our client. Col. 
McCIure, snd in the interest of his opponent. 

Such is the scope and cfftct of the testimony which you have heard ; but 
the case of Col McClure does not rest simply on the evidence of witnesses. 
If it did, there might aiise questions of the credibility of witnesses, and 
you might have to weigh and sift the testimony to get at the truth. But 
there is that in this case which is conclusive of the case. There is that 
in this ca.se that never was in any other case which has been tried under 
the election laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and which dis- 
tinguishes it from all other cases ; and that is, that this petition charges 
that wliicli never was charged in any other petition, and the evidence dis- 
closes that which never was discioyed in any similar investigation, namely, 
that the election officers were guilty of changing, fabricating and falsifying 
the returns. Take the Dechert petition, which follows all the preceding 
petitions heard before this or the other house. The Dechert petition em- 
braced merely what you will find in our petition under the letter G, and 
no more. It charged simply that there were illegal votes received; that 
votes were received on the eames of persons who did not live in the 
division ; that the election was conducted irregularly by the omission to 
mark the letter V opposite the names of voters, by the omission to enter the 
name of the voucher, and to designate the voters on age. But if you 



114 

examine the present petition, you will find that it alleges that returns were 
changed and substituted ; that tickets were changed and substituted after 
they were put in the ballot boxes ; that a false and fraudulent return of 
the vore polled was made to the Board of Return Judges. These allega- 
tions distinguish this from any other case that has been heretofore tried, 
and these facts are also proved in this case. They are proved iu all of the 
fifteen contested divisions, as you will find by reference to the analysis of 
the testimony which we have made for the guidance of the committee. 
The proof of these charges is found in the records made and kept by the 
very men who were guilty of the frauds. It does not depend upon the 
uncertain testimony of other witnesses, but it is shown in a manner which 
can admit of no explanation or contradiction. We produced before you 
the hourly returns and the list of voters in each division. The hourly 
returns, you will bear in mind, and the list of voters correspond in the 
m«n so far as the aggregate vote is concerned. Wherever a voter was 
called as a witness before you, we gave you the number at which he stood 
upon that list of voters, and we turned to the registry and showed, you 
that he was marked as voting, and the hour also at which he voted ; for the 
election officers, by putting his name and number on the list, and by writ- 
ing the letter V opposite the vote, have said that he vottd in his division 
at a particular hour on that day. 

Now if you compare the names of the citizens who were proved to have 
voted with the houi ly returns, you will ste precisely when each man voted. 
For instance, take any one of these divisions, and j^ou will find that at 
eight o'clock in the morning there were, say, twenty votes polled, and at 
nine o'clock in the morning there were forty votes polled. Now the citizen 
whose number on the voting list is btlow twenty, voted before eight o'clock 
m the morning, or during the first hour, because the first hour's vote was 
made up at eight o'clock. The citizen wtiose name comes between twenty 
and forty, voted in the second hour, or between eight and nine o'clock, 
because the vote was made up again at nine o'clock; and all, therefore, 
that you have to do, is to take the figures on the hourly return, the list of 
voters and the names of voters proven, and you will see precisely at what 
hour those voters deposited their ballots on that day. By compaiing the 
list of voters with the hourly return, you will find that in every one of 
these fifteen divisions the officers of election have altered or falsified the 
returns. 

Now that element never has entered into any case which has been 
hitherto presented before either body of the Legislature. I know what 
have been the questions which have been raised in other cases — 
questions as to the right to throw out divisions— questions as to the 
disfranchisement of voters. 1 know what has been the action of the 
Senate in these matters heretofore. I know how some of the gentlemen 
on this committee have expressed themselves with refei-ence to these 



115 

que,-;tions on previous occasions. I know that some of them have enter- 
tained one view and some another, I know that in the Dechert case and 
in the Watt-Diamond case, different opinions were expressed on this point. 
But this case stands by itstif, and does not require the rejection of divisions 
in order to arrive at a just result. 

As a question of evidence, however, we contend that it will be the duty 
of this committee to reject the returns from some of these divisions. Our 
view of the law is this : that Col Gray holds his seat here by virtue of 
certain returns which entered into and were coutited in the general return, 
and which are the evidence upon which his certificate of election was based. 
We show to you by the testimony in this case that the returns for fifteen 
of these divisions are tainted with falsehood, are fraudulent and worthless 
as 'pieces of evidence. It is as if this were an action of ejectment, and the 
parties to this contest were the pai ties to that proceeding. A deed is pro- 
duced, which it is shown by the evidence has been fraudulently altered. 
What is the value of it as a piece of evidence ? The court instructs the 
jury, "if you btlieve the paper has been falsely altered, you will reject it 
as evidence of title." That is all we ask you to do, to reject as evidence 
of title an altered and fraudulent return upon which that title is based, 
and to let the fact be established by other and reliable evidence. 

Now we have shown you here, and it has been the burden of our case 
to satisfy you, that into this return by virtue of wtiich Col. Gray holds 
his seat, there entered certain fraudulent returns frcm fifteen divisions, 
which returns are to be rejected ; and when n-jected, the onus is thrown 
upon our friends on the other side to show the true vote of those divisions, 
if they desire to have them counted. That they have undertaken to do. 

It is a singular fact, which cannot have escaped the observation of the 
committee, that while Col. Gray filed here an elaborate answer, in which 
he alleges frauds to an alarming extent in the remaining divisions of this 
district, he has not offered a siogle particle of evidence to impeach any of 
those divisions except the sixth division of the Nineteenth Ward, which 
division was rot counted or included in the general return. All the labor 
bestowed upon that answer went for nothing, and he has contented him- 
self with merely denying the truth of the petition, and with alleging irregu- 
larities in certain divisions ; not for the purpose of getting these divisions 
counted out, but for the purpose of getting the sixth division of the Nine- 
teenth Ward counted in. 

Having thus hurriedly reviewed the testimony, as it bears generally upon 
the events of the thirtieth of January, I propose now to examine the evi- 
dence as it applies to the several contested divisions, and to show how the 
contestant's case afiects these divisions. 

And first, I begin with the twentieth division of the Nineteenth Ward. 

Senator Buckalbw— I do not understand you that you ask us to reject 
the poll ? 



116 

Mr. Hagert— No, sir. I simply ask you to reject the returns as items 
of evidence in those divisions where the returns are shown to be fraudu 
lent. Our argument is that the testimony has so impaired and tainted 
the returns for these divisions, that you will be bound to reject them as 
evidence, and to seek for proof elsewhere of the true state of the poll in 
those divisions. 

Beginning with the twentieth division of the Nineteenth Ward, which is 
the first of the divisions assailed by us, we find that the hourly return for that 
division gives Col. Gray 191, and Col. McClure 35 votes. We produced 
before you citizens of this division to the number of 93, who proved that 
they voted for Col. McClure, and we confirmed and corioborated their 
proof in each instance by the list of voters, showing their names upon the 
list, and the hour at which they voted. We fuither corroborated it by the 
registry list, showing the letter V marked opposite their names, indicating 
that they had voted. It is clear, from the evidence, that Col. McCIure was 
defrauded out of at least 58 votes in the return for this division, being the 
difterence between the 93 votes proven by us and the 35 returned as cast for 
him. How many more votes were cast for Col. McClure, and not counted, 
neither you nor I can know at this d.iy. Voters have died, or left the 
division, or ceased to have any niterest in the election, and cannot now be 
produced to show what further frauds were there practistd upon Col. 
McClure. 

But let us go a little further in our examination of this division. If 
you take the testimony and the list of voters, and compare these with the 
hourly return, you will find that in the first hour Col. McClure was 
returned 4 votes, and he proved 7 ; in the second 3, and he pioved 4; in 
the third hour 6, and he proved 10 ; then 5, and he proved 12 ; the follow- 
ing hour 1, and he proved 2 ; the next hour 11, and he proved 17 ; next 2, 
and he proved 4: the following hour 3, and he proved 17 ; the next hour 
none, and he proved 3 ; the next none, and he proved 4 ; and the last hour 
they gave him credit for none, and he proved 14 votes polled for him. 
That is the state of the return, and it shows tbat during eYnry hour that 
the poll was opened the election officers deliberately falsified the returns. 
In addition to this, we have shown you by the testimony in the case that 
there were 12 personations of citizens of the division by fraudulent voters, 
all of whose votes were received and counted in the return, and I want to 
call your attention to these personations with special reference to one 
matter, and that is this. It is in evidence here that repeaters voted in 
knots and gangs. Now, if you examine the numbers which these false 
personations bear on the list of voters, you will see that they follow almost 
consecutively ; thus, No. 147 on the list of voters is John Donnelly ; No. 149 
is Henry Smith ; No. 150 is Wm. F. Bodder ; No. 151 is Henry Thorn ; No. 
155 is John H. Bacon, showing that these 5 men got into the line of voters 
in a body, and one after the other fraudulently voted ; corroborating 



117 

the contestant's witnesses, who testified that the men voted in that way, 
and showing that these were not isolated cases of fraudulent voting, which 
might and do occur in all elections, but the result of concert and collusion. 
There is another thing which it is important to notice. I have said to 
you that the figures will also sho^v for whom these men voted. Take the 
case of these same 5 men who voted between No. 147 and No. 155. By an 
examination of the hourly return you will find that votes 147 to 155 were 
cast between the hours of 2 and 3 in the afternoon, because the 2 o'clock 
count ceased at No. 139, and the 3 o'clock count ceased at No. 167. By 
the return Col. McCluiegets credit for only 3 votes in that hour, while 
the evidence shows that there were 5 personations wiihin that hour, 
Lookmg to the return alone, that clears his skirts of two of these false 
personations, and transfers them to Col. Gray's credit. But 17 legal voters 
came before the Committee, and testified that they voted for Col McClure 
within that hour, thus establishing the fact that the 3 votes for which 
he received credit were legal votes, and fixing the stigma of these 5 illegal 
votes conclusively upon the other side. If you follow this course of com- 
parison of the fraudulent votes with the hourly returns, through the 15 
divisions which we have assailed, you will find the same thing to be true 
of all of them, and that in every hour in which we were able to prove our 
vote, and in which personations took place, those personations were in 
favor of Col. Gray and against Col. McClure. 

I shall not go over in detail the other testimony in regard to the 20th 
division of the Nineteenth Ward. That is the divi.^ion you will remember 
where Policeman Arnold voted on the name of Podesta, and where tickets 
were given out with Col. Gray's name pasted over Col. McC lure's. 

We come next to the 8th division of the Nineteenth Ward. You will find 
that in the return from that division that Col. Gray got 14^ and Col. McClure 
47 votes, while Col McClure was able to produce before this • ommittee 
C7 men who had voted for him in the division. For the first hour he was 
returned 9 votes, and he proved 9 ; for the second hour 1, and he proved 

2 : for the third hour 8, and he provtd 8 ; for the fourth hour 2, and he 
produced 1 : for the next hour 11. and he proved 15— then 4, and he proved 
6; for the nest hour none at all, and he proved 12. So bold had these 
men become under official encouragement and protection, late in the 
day, that although 12 votes had gone into the box for Col. McClure, they 
failed to count or return a single vote in his favor. In the following hour 

3 votes were returned, and 4 proved ; in the next 3 returned, and 4 proved, 
and in the la.st hour G votes were returned, and 6 are proved. 

We come now to the personations in this division, which were 25 in 
number, and I desire specially to call your attention to 10 names which 
were voted on between 4 and 6, P. M., and which are on the list of voters 
Nos. 171, 180, 182, 183, 185, 186, 190, 192, 194 and 195. With scarcely 
a single honest voter interposed, these 10 men went up to the polls in a 



118 

compact body, and personated citizens of the division without objection 
or interference from the police, and their votes were received and counted 
by a Sergeant of Police, acting as judge of the election. During the two 
hours in which these fraudulent votes were polled. Col. McClure was 
returned as receiving 9 votes, and he produced before you 10 citizens who 
proved their votes, thus establishing beyond question that the 10 fraudu- 
lent votes polled during those hours were part of the 29 votes returned as 
polled for Col. Gray. 

In that division you have the testimony of Messrs. Dougherty, Kissel- 
bach and Carter, that the three Democratic election officers, at a particular 
hour in the day, took McClure tickets and voted in the presence of the 
Republican election officers, and that 9 other citizens cast their votes for 
Col. McClure during the same hour; yet when the box was opened and 
the tickets counted, there were no McClure tickets found in the box ; and 
when the minority officers complained that they had been cheated out of 
their votes, th> ir Republican colleagues informed them " we are going to 
run this thing ourselves," and refused to count the votes. It is in this 
division that a citizen, Mr. Rudolph Phy, was driven from the polls by 
Sergeant Humphreys, the judge of the election, and his ticket changed for 
a Gray ticket by that officer. 

The next division is the fourth division of the Twentieth Ward. There 
194 votes were returned for Col. Gray, and 79 for Col. McClure. The 
number of votes proven by us to have been cast for Col. McClure was 111. 
In the first hour he was returned 12, and he proved 13; in the next hour 
6, and he proved 10; then 6 again, and he proved 8; then 2, and he 
proved 8; then 4, and he pioved 7; then 20, and he proved 23; then 6, 
and he proved 10 ; then 5, and he proved 11 ; then 5, and he proved 5 ; 
then 5, and he pio^ved 8, and the last hour 8, and he proved 8. There 
were 22 citizens proved to have been personated by fraudulent voters. 
Nos. 12, 14 and 15 on the list were personati(U)s ; Nos. 50, 65, 68, 69, 72 
and 74 were also personations ; Nos. 165, 169, 170, 174, 177, 180 and 181 
voted in a body, and were personations, and in the last hour was No. 254. 
Take the 5 personations prior to 10 in the morning, and you will see to 
whom they belong. During that hour McClure had 6 votes returned for 
him, and he proved 8; so that he has proved, by the production of the 
voters themselves, that the 6 votes given to him were honest votes, and, 
therefore, that the 5 fraudulent votes cast during that hour are included 
among the 18 returned for Mr. Gray. Between 1 and 2 o'clock there were 
7 personations ; 6 votes were returned for Col McClure, and 10 citizens 
were produced who voted for him during that hour, showing that these 7 
fraudulent votes were also counted in the votes recorded for Col. Gray. 

The general testimony as to this division is that of Mr. Jordan, the 
wmdow-book man, who saw repeaters vote, and challenged them ; of Mr. 
Rump, who saw these repeaters vote, and challenged them, and had his 



119 

challenges disregarded, and when he desired the police to arrest them was 
mtt with a refiisnl so to do; of Geo. Smith, who saw the gang of 
repeateiv, headed by HoUock, engaged iu voting ; of Bernaid Martin, who 
saw the same gang; of Mi'. Fletcher, who testifies to seeing them and 
talking with them, and that they told him they were receiving one dollar 
a vote for their services, and that Tittermary paid them ; and who further 
testifies to seeing these same persons in the bar room at the Elephant 
Club Repulilican head-quarters, on Girard avenue, and also to seeing Mr. 
Gray there in company with some gentlemen ; of Mr. Shane, who lived in 
that division fb'- sixteen years, and who was ordered from the polls by 
repeaters ; and of Mr. Fisher and Mr. Tobin, who saw McGkire tickets, 
whi-h had been voted and not counted, concealed in the lining of the 
Republican return inspector's hat. 

The next division is the seventh division of the Twentieth Ward, where 
213 votes were returned for Col. Gray, and 70 for Col McClure, and where 
Col. McClure has proven 85 votes to have been polled for him. In the 
hourly return for the first hour he was given 11 votes, and he proved 12 ; for 
the next hour 8, and he proved 10 ; then 4, and he proved 7 ; then 5, and he 
proved 4 : tlien 6, and he proved D ; then 5, and he proved 3 ; then 5, an(} 
he proved 10 ; then 3, and he proved 7 ; then G, and he proved II, and so 
on. Here, also, if you follow the same process with reference to the 
votes of repeaters, Nos. 270, 271, 272 and 277 will be found to have all 
voted together. They, together with No. 255, voted between 5 and 6 
o'clock in the evening. As to the general evidence in this case, this is 
the division where Mr. Justice and Mr. Clifton proved that the repeaters 
were challenged, and that no regard was paid to the challenges, and 
no v( ucher required by the election ofiicers. Mr. Justice, who had the 
window book, was assaulted and his book taken from him, after the 
Republican return inspector had attempted to bribe him to get him 
away from the polls, in order that these frauds might go on unchallenged. 

In the fifteenth division of the Twentieth Ward, 211 vvites were returned 
for Mr. Gray and 108 for Col. INIcClure ; and we have proved 135 votes to 
have been polled for Col. McCiuie. In the first hoia- he was returned 17, 
and we proved 22 ; in the second hour he was returned 17, and we proved 
21 ; then 5, and we proved 6 ; then 10, and we proved 9 ; then 2 were re- 
turned, and 6 were proved ; then 11, and 17 were proved ; tlien 7, and 8 
were proved ; then 5, and 17 were proved ; and so on throughout the day. 
The personations proved in this division were 17. Nos. 114, 117 and 
120 voted together. Nos. 127, 128 and 130 voted together, Nos. 238. 
241, 242, 245 and 252 voted together. If you adopt the same ciniise in 
reference to these personations, and examine the several hours in which 
they vot^d and in which the votes for Col. McClure were proved, you 
will fit:d that during those hours Col. McClure has proved all the honest 
Fote for which he received credit in the return, and has thus thr<5wu the 



120 

burden of the dishonest vote upon the other side. I am reminded by my 
colleague, Mr. Cassidy, that this is one of the divisions where Tim. Riley, 
a Custom House official, figured at the head of a gang of repeaters, and 
voted under the name of David Colcher ; where policeman Haines held the 
window-book in citizen's dress; where Mr. Phreaner, a well-known citi- 
zen, had his vote illegally refused ; where another citize'i, Mr. Cullen, was 
knocked down by a policeman for challenging a repeater; where William 
Short was blackjacked by policeman Standback; and where several wit- 
nesses swore to the presence of repeaters and to a general disregard of 
challenges by the election oflBcers. 

Up to this point, in our case, we have produced voters in the several 
divisions for all the hours during which the polls were open. It was 
impossible, in the limited time which this committee had to sit, to pursue 
this course with all the contested divisions, and it was not necessary so to 
do. It is not necessary, in order to satisfy you that a return is unreliable, 
that we should show you that falsehood entered into eveiy hour of that 
return. If I show" you that a witness has sworn falsely in anyone material 
point, his whole testimony is thereby discredited. "False in one thing, 
false in all." If I show you in any division that for two or three hours, 
o -or a single hour, the sworn election officer's have falsified the return, it 
is as much impeached as if I traced the fraud and falsehood through every 
hour. In the remaining divisions we have confined ourselves to impeach- 
ing the returns for particular hours, by showing a fraudulent letur'n of 
the vote cast in these hours, accompanied by other testimony bearing upon 
the general fraudulent conduct of the officer's in theSe divisions. 

Thus, in the fuuith division of the Twentieth Ward we discredited four 
of the hourly returns. At nine o'clock the election officers returned 11 
votes as polled for Col. McClure, and we proved 15; at eleven o'clock 
they gave us 4, and we proved 5 ; and in the last two hours we r-eceived 
on the return credit respectively for 3, and we proved 4; and for 8, and 
we proved 10. The return of the division was 117 votes for Mr. Gray 
and 88 for Col. McClure ; and we t-howed 7 personations in that division. 
This is the division in which Mr, Fields, of the Register of Wills office, 
personated Mr. Porch, and here again Riley figures as a leader of repeaters. 

Mr, George Evans, a respectable druggist, whose stor-e is opposite to 
the polls, noticed gangs of repeater's at the polls, and saw them assault 
Mr. Howell, the McClure window-book man. At this puli Frank Fisher 
was assaulted, the xMcClure tickets taken from him when he went to 
vote, and a Gray ticket handed to him. Mr. Charles Hand and Mr. 
Friend were refused their right to vote, because repeaters had voted on 
their names ; and the police left the poll when the repeaters came tipon 
the ground. The order in whicii repeaters voted will be found by reference 
to Nos. 37 38, 39, 40, 42, 86 and 88 upon the list of votei-s. 

In tije fifth division of the Twentieth Ward, thi'ee hours are impeached. 



121 

In one Col. McClure received credit for 2 votes, and he proved 4. Tn the 
second he received 5 votes, and he proved 14, and on the last hour of the 
day 6 were returned, and 12 were proved. Among the personations we 
find Nos. 158, 163 and 106, all within the same hour; in t^le hour fiom 
2 to 3 o'clock, in which we have proven 4 votes polled for Col. McClure, 
only 2 were returned, showing that the fraudulent vote is to be credited 
to Col. Gray. In this division there is the general testimony of Mr. Amos 
Robbins, who saw the gang of repeaters vote, and dared- not challenge 
them, fearing personal injury, and of Mr. Brady, who also saw tliem vote. 

In the thud division of the Twenty-second Ward, we impeach two 
hours. In the first hour of the day, w^e were returned as having received 
9 votes, and have proved 13, and at 1 o'clock 15 were returned, and 20 
have been piovtd. This is the division where Mr. Buzby saw the Repub- 
lican inspector take his ticket out of the box; where the police took 
charge of the poll, inside and outside, and wheie Mr. Didier, an employee 
in the Navy Yard, was the judge of the election, and a policeman named 
Stafibrd was inspector. And in this connection I desiie to call your 
attention to the fact that no man holding any office or employment, either 
under the general. State government, or city government, or in any o*" the 
departments, is legally qualified to sit as an election ofldc.r, in the Lty 
of Philadelphia, under the act of 1839, (Pamphlet laws 519, sect on 17,) 
and that this wise provision of the law was violated by the Board of 
Aldermen in many of the appointments made of election officers for these 
divisions. 

In the fifth division of the Twenty-second Ward, we impeached two 
of the hourly returns, one in which 12 votes were returned for Col. 
McClure, and 17 were proved, and the other in which 5 were returned 
and 6 were proved. In this division Mr. Merter, the clerk of the election, 
found the ballot-box stuffed between the hours of twelve and one, and 5 
more tickets in the box than theie were names of voters on the list, and 
called the attention of the election officers to the fact. 

In the fourth division of the Nineteenth Ward, the hour before 8 A. M. 
is impeached, 7 votes having been returned, while 12 voters have been 
produced by us, who proved that they voted during that hour; and in 
addition, one witness, called by the respondent, testified that he voted 
for Col. McClure, making 13 in all. In that division we have proof of 11 
repeaters who p>^rsonated citizens. We have the testimony of Edwaid 
Buckley, who saw a gang of repeaters in charge of McDonough, and who saw 
a policeman change his hat and coat, and vote under the name of Reuben 
Grubb. In this division the Republican judge of the election received 
the vote of a repeater who voted on the name of Richard Oiton, although 
the judge was personally acquainted with Orton ; and challenges were 
entirely disregarded. Mr. Geo. Graff, the Democratic window inspector, 
challenged the votes of repeaters, and was informed by the judge that it 



122 ' 

was not necessary for them to produce vouchers, and the sons of Mr. 
Grjiif, hfiving been first assaulted by repeaters whose votes they had 
challenged, and the window book taken from them, were dragged to the 
station house l)y police officers Mr. Taylor challenged repeaters, and was 
told by the judge that vouchers were not required at a senatorial election. 
John ITentz, who held the McClure window book, saw fraudulent count- 
ing inside, and called attention to it, when Martin, a paster and folder in 
the House of Representatives, threatened him with personal violence if 
he said anything more about it; and Mr. llentz was assaulted and his 
window book taken from him. George Bradly saw a repeater vote on the 
name of Robert Weir, who is No. 18G on the list of voters, and called on 
a policeman to arrest the fraudulent voter, whereupon the officer attempted 
to arrest Mr. Bradly. and let the repeater go. 

In the third division of the Nineteenth Ward, the hour before 10 
o'clock, is attacked — 4 votes being returned for Col. McClure, and 5 
having been proved. In the same division we have shown 16 personations, 
Nos. .54, 57. 59, 61, 62 and 69 having voted in that order; Nos. 85 and 
86 voting together, and Nos. 92 and 95 ; 115, 116 and 117 ; and 126 and 
128 voting in line togtther. 

We have the testimony of Mr. Holloway, an inspector, that a gang of 
repeaters attempted to vote; that one of them rtached into the window 
and tore out a portion of the book containing the list of voters, and when 
Mr. Holloway went outside to get back his book, he was beaten with 
blackjacks. Citizens having a legal right to vote did so, he said, at the 
risk of their lives. Mr. Warren, the window-book man, saw a gang of 
twenty-five repeaters vote, and his life was threatened if he challenged 
voters. No attention was paid to challenges, but the judge said, "put 
the vote in." 

In the fifth division of the Twenty-fifth Ward we were returned 4 votes 
for the ten o'clock hour, aid have pioved 5, and we have shown 6 person- 
ations. In th:;t division we have the testimony of Mr. McQuade, a clerk 
of the election, wLo saw repeaters vote on the names of citizens. The 
judge of the election and the inspector were policemen, who disregarded 
challei]g'.s or dropped tickets in the box before votes could be challenged. 
Policeman Arnold was seen to vote; and peisons in the interest of Col. 
McClure could not electioneer without being intimidated. Mr. Herman 
Dieck, a well-known and highly respected gentleman connected with the 
press, testified that he saw police officers John Ward and Stotzcnberg 
engaged in a fight in the neighborhood of the polls, and that both of them 
were cut and bloody, and that they were surrounded by a number of 
policemen. Waid, when put upon the stand, undertook to swear that 
he had not been in any fight on that day or in that division ; but I will 
put the testimony of Mr. Herman Dieck alongside of that of any man in 



123 

the Common wealth for veracity, ami the statement of Ward is entirely 
uncorroborated. 

In the twenty-second division of the Nineteenth Ward, the hour before 
eight o'clock is impeached by us, 4 votes havirg been proved for Col- 
McClure. and only 3 rtturntd. Four repeaters are proved to have voted 
in this division. Nos. 91 and 93 voting together, ai-d also Nos. 179 and 
180. We have the evidence of Geo. Rankin, an inspector, that he ac- 
cused the ofBceis of counting the votes fraudu'entlv, and got no satisfac- 
tion; and a clerk, Thos. Quinn, protested against the count wben four 
votts had betn polled for Col. McCluie, and only two counted by the 
officers. 

In the sixth division of the Twenty-second Ward, 13 votes were proved 
in one hour, and only 10 i-eturned. 

In the twenty-fifth division of the Nineteenth Ward, 4 votes were 
proved in the filth hour, and 3 returr.ed. AJr. McQuillan saw repeaters 
voting, and one of them actually gave Mr. McQuillan's own house as his 
place of residence, notwithstanding w^hich the vote was received and 
counted for Mr. Gray, while legal votes for Col. McClure were refused. 

There are a number of other divisions as to which testimony has been 
produced by us, not for the purpose of invalidating the return, but for 
the purpose of strengthening the general argument as it applies to the 
different divisions which I have enumerated This is simply cumulative 
evidence to corroborate the previous testimony, and to sustain the theory 
of the contestant that the election was conducted upon a general and pre- 
concerted scheme of fraud. In the fifth division of the Nineteenth Ward, 
we have shown }ou that a gang of repeaters voted on names taken from 
the window book, and that Martin, a policeman, voted in the name of 
Henry t'urrcy. In the ninth division of the Nintteenth Ward, we proved 
repeating and false personation. In the tenth division of the Nine- 
teenth Waid, we also showed a number of false personations: a gang of 
repeaters there stole the window book, and intimidated those outside from 
challenging. In the eleventh division of the Nineteenth Ward, we proved 
fraudulent voting by officials and others : that Riitenhouse, a Commissioner 
of Highways, gave slips containing names to fraudulent voters, and that 
a return inspector attempted to drive the Democratic canvasser from the 
polls. In the twelfth of tlie Nineteenth Ward, the thirteenth of the Nine- 
teenth, and the sixteenth of the Nineteenth, we proved similar facts. In 
the seventeenth division of the Nineteenth Ward, we proved votes by 
repeaters ; one voting on the name of a dead man, and three voting from 
one place of residence, Nos. 71, 72 and 73 on the list of voters. In the 
third division of the Twentieth Ward, we have proof that repeaters 
voted, and that a young man who challenged them was first blackjacked 
bv them, and t'len cairitd off to the station house by the police. In this 
division, Nos. 38, 39, 42, 44 and 47 all voted together on personations 



124 

within an hour, when the return gives Col. McClure 8 votes. These 8 
votes were produced by us, showing that thedishonest vote was not charge- 
able to our account. In the sixth division of the Twentieth Ward, the 
election officers refused legal McClure votes. In the twelfth division of 
the Twentieth Ward, repeaters voted under Hollock, of the Gas Office, 
and Ellinger, of the Third Ward, was with them. The tenth division of the 
Twentieth Ward was also visited by repeaters, and we have proved false 
personations in that division. Mr. Smith followed the gangs under the 
leadership of Riley and Hollock and Souder, of the Cudtom House, and 
saw them vote there; and when their votes were challenged by the Demo- 
cratic window-book man, they blackjacked him and left him insensible 
upon the pavement. There, too, another window-book man, Mr. Miller, 
was blackjacked, policeman No. 128 looking on, and refusing to make 
arrests, although called upon by citizens so to do. In the thirteenth 
division of the Twentieth Ward, which was under the supei vision of Mr. 
Schotield, who stood all day manfully at his post in the face of insult, 
abuse and threats of personal violence, we see a gang of repeaters, under 
the lead of Fields, of the Register of Wills Office, go to the polls and vote, 
and policeman Campbell assist to bring them into line, while resijectable 
men, like the Rev. Mr. Henson, are driven from the window. Hyre 
policeman Staudback wanted to fight McClure men, and knocked down 
Mr. Iliggins and Mr Swissler, citizens of the division, whde Mr. Thomas 
McConnell, another resident of the division, was knocked down and stabbed 
by one of a gang of repeaters. McConnell and Gowen, the committie will 
remember, followed these repeaters from other divisions into the thirteenth 
division of the Twentieth W^ard, and when McConnell challenged tlieir 
votes, one of the gang drew a knife and stabbed him in the arm, where- 
upon police officer Marjoram, who had been actii g as Republican window- 
book man, arrested McConnefi and took him to the station house, and 
had him held to bail, the silting magistrate refusing to bind over the 
repeater for illegal voting. At thi> poll Mr. Foster, a well-known citizen, 
was grossly insulted because he voted for Col. McClure. In the fourteenth 
division of the Twentieth Ward, the same state of things is shown to 
have existed. 

As to the fouith, sixth and seventh divisions of the Twenty-fifth 
Ward, and the tenth divi-ion of the Twenty-second Ward, we have 
similar testimony, accompanied with proof of i .discriminate arrests of 
Democratic citizens, who were locked up in the station house u^itil the 
polls closed, and then discharged without any complaint being preferred 
against them. In the tenth division of the Twei.ty-second Ward, Mr. 
Bnggs, the window inspector, saw the judge of the election take t ckets 
out of the box aid substitute otheis which he produced from his vest 
pockety and was ordeied by the Republican judge to leave the window, 



125 

where he was lawfully acting as window inspector. Mr. Stadtlman also 
saw the tickets changed. 

In the second division of the Twentieth Ward, Mr. Ramsey saw a gang 
of repeaters knock down a McClure man, and called on the pclice to arrest 
the repeaters, and they refused. In the fiist division of the Twenty-sevenlh 
Ward, a crowd of ' roucders" belonging to the Fire Department, aided 
by the police, assaulted voters, dragged them from the line, and interfered 
with the election. Mr. Ennis, who lemonstrated. was threatened. Ser- 
geant Rogeis, of the police, behaved in a disor'derly manner at the polls. 
Job Pugh, a respectable citizen of the district, testified to seeing the 
Lieutenant and Seigeant Sayers, and a number of policemen at the polls 
interfering with voters, and taking them from the line. 

In the fourteenth division of the Nineteenth Ward, Geo. W. Lukens, 
a Democratic election officer, was oflfered a bribe of $50 by David Mar- 
tin, a paster and folder of the House of Eepresentatives, to allow a clerk 
of his choosing to go inside to cheat for Col. Gray; and in the twenty- 
first division of the Nineteenth Ward it was testified that Peter Non- 
gesser, the Democratic judge, and Edward Jordan, the Democratic return 
inspector, were tempted with bribes of $25 by Alderman Smith, to allow 
Mr. Geisel, of the Post Office, to have control of the poll, and that Geisel 
attempted to cheat when inside of the poll. 

What, I ask, does all this mass of testimony establish? W^hat does 
all this fraud and violence, all this false peri^onation and organized re- 
peating, all this official protection on the one side, and interference and 
intimidation on the other, tend to prove? Does it not establish conclu- 
sively what was alleged in our petition, that at this election, by concert 
and agreement, [if ever concert and agreement can be shown by subse- 
quent acts,] systematized fraud was practiced against Col. McClure in 
each of the divisions assailed in the petition? Whether these frauds 
extended to other divisions I do not know, but it can fairly be presumed 
that such was the case. I have no reason to believe that they were con- 
fined to those divisions, but our friends did not think it prudent to open 
the contest in other divisions. If they had done so, I think we could 
have shown that the same state of things existed throughout the district. 

Now what is the result of all this evidence? Where does it lead you? 
If I have satisfied you, or rather if the figures have satisfied you — nay 
more, if the election officers, by their own figures, have satisfied you — 
(because that is what it comes to — that is the heart and kernel of this 
case;) if the election officers, by the hourly returns and the lists of voters 
which they have furnished, have satisfied you that fraud and falsehood 
entered into those returns, and if I have convinced you, as a legal pro- 
position, that these returns are, by reason of the fraud which entered 
into them, rendered worthless as evidence, and are therefore to be dis- 
regarded, where then do we stand? Strike out those false and fraudu- 



126 

lent returns, and Col. McClure's majority in the remaining divisions 
will be 423. 

What is the answer to all this on the part of Col. Gray? How has 
he attempted to meet these damaging and disgraceful disclosures? Our 
friends on the other side, seeing that it was the purpose of the contestant 
to discredit the returns, and conscious that those returns would not stand 
the scrutiny of the committee, have undertaken to prove the vote cast 
for Mr. Gray, and for this purpose have produced voters from nine of 
the fifteen divisions assailed by us, who have testified before you that 
they voted for Mr. Gray. Some of them, upon cross-examination, were 
found not to have paid taxes; others were uncertain as to what ticket 
they voted ; and others still were shown to have been disqualified to 
vote. But in the summary which I have made of the figures in this 
case, and which I shall furnish to the committee, I have disregarded 
these objections. It is not necessary that I should go into an examina- 
tion of the legality of these votes. The number of voters discredited 
was comparatively small on either side, and so evenly balanced that we 
may take the votes proven by the contestant and respondent to be the 
honest legal vote for all the purposes of this case. Of the effect which 
the committee is to give to the votes thus proved, I shall speak hereafter. 

The next branch of the respondent's testimony relates to the sixth 
division of the Nineteenth Ward, which had not been counted in the 
general return for either candidate, and they have shown that at a certain 
hour of the day, somewhere between two and three o'clock, the poll in 
that division was broken up, and the election papers lost or destroyed ; 
and to supply the place of this proof, they undertook to prove the entire 
vote of the division. They failed, however, in this, and hence we offered 
no evidence except the registry list of this division, by which it appeared 
that the whole number of votes in that division was between 500 and 
600, while the vote proved by respondent did not amount to more than 
one-third of the whole vote cast. They went further, and undertook to 
show not only what vote had been polled, but what would have been 
the result had the poll been kept open. That was a question, the com- 
petency of which has been reserved by this committee for future deter- 
mination. 

Senator Buckalew— I do not understand that to be the proposition 
of the respondent's counsel. 

Mr. Hagert — I understand that Mr. Briggs means to contend before 
the committee, that every man who voted at that poll, or who was de- 
barred from voting becatise the poll was broken up, is entitled to have 
his vote counted, and the committee is to find out from the evidence 
what the vote would have been had these witnesses not been deprived 
of the opportunity of voting. 

Now I don't suppose that proposition can be entertained for a moment; 



127 

but whether it be tenable or not, it cannot affect the result of this case 
if I ani right in my calculations upon the figures. 

The next thing that respondent's counsel attempted to do, was to 
rebut a portion of the testimony which we had produced as to the fourth 
division of the Twenty-fifth Ward, and which formed a part of our 
general and cumulative evidence. You will remember that we called 
Alderman McMullin, to show that there had been interference, by the 
palice force, with legal voters in that division. You will recollect that 
when the Mayor spoke of the meeting which occurred the night before 
the election, he specified the fourth of the Twenty-fifth and the sixth 
of the Twenty-fifth as two divisions to which particular attention was 
to be paid, at the request of the friends of Col. Gray. The fourth 
division of the Twenty-fifth Ward has always been a strongly Demo- 
cratic precinct. Mr. Fletcher's testimony showed that Mr. Fox's 
majority in 1868 was 430. At the election of 1870, which was the first 
held under the Registry Act, the vote for sheriff' was 55 Republican to 
376 Democratic; a Democratic majority of 321. The present return 
increased that vote of 55 to 96 for Gray, and reduced the Democratic 
vote of 376 to 220 for McClure, showing the measure and result of the 
interference of the uniformed and ununiformed police at that poll. 

Senator Buckalew — The division gave Mr. Connell 86 and Wartman 
419. 

Mr. Hageet — At the election of 1870 there were row officers to elect, 
and a full party vote was polled; and 1 want to call your attention to 
this fact, that on the thirtieth of January last the Democratic vote had 
fallen off considerably from the election of 1870, while the Republican 
vote was nearly double that of 1870, so that all pretence of fraudulent 
votes having been polled for Col. McClure is dispelled by this compari- 
son, while the great increase in the vote returned for his opponent does 
confirm and corroborate the statement of Aid. McMullin, that Republi- 
can roughs and repeaters were floating around through the ward, and that 
Democratic voters were intimidated and driven from the polls by police 
officers and others. John Ward, who had been discharged from a for- 
mer police force for having been concerned in a prize fight, was one of 
the men selected for this business of intimidation, because, in the 
words of Captain Clark, he was "a man fitted for rough work;" and 
between ten and twelve o'clock over a dozen additional officers were sent 
to that election poll, although there was no disturbance whatever until 
a late hour in the day, when a dispute occurred at the window with a 
Democratic citizen of the division named Farrell, whom the police 
arrested and took away, when they were followed by some of the people 
of the neighborhood. The only arrest made by the police for illegal 
voting in that division, was the arrest of a man named O'Donnell, who 
lived in the division, and while intoxicated attempted to vote twice at 



128 

the poll where he was known to everybody: and no others were arrested 
on that day except active Democrats of the division who were electioneer- 
ing Col. McClure's ticket, and who were locked up in the station house 
until the polls closed. The station houses in Philadelphia, it is well 
known, are little else than prisons for voters from the time the polls 
open until they close, when there is a general jail delivery and universal 
amnesty proclaimed all around. 

The sixth division of the Twenty-fifth Ward, which is the other divi- 
sion which claimed his Honor's special attention on the night preceding 
the election, was passed over by my friend, Mr. Briggs, without any 
notice. He did not attack either the fourth division or the sixth divi- 
sion of the Twenty-fifth Ward for illegal conduct inside of the poll. 
He did not attempt to show that Col. Gray was entitled to more votes 
than were returned for him in those divisions, but he confined himself 
to attempting to rebut our general evidence as to the conduct of the 
police force. This silence on the part of our opponents is a significant 
commentary upon the motives and purposes which it is alleged induced 
the police authorities to give such special attention to those two 
divisions. 

The next thing which attracts our notice in reviewing the evidence 
in this case is the singular spectacle to which we were treated by 
our friends on the other side, when they produced before the com- 
mittee the elegant gentlemen who figured under the several names 
of Gopher Bill, Stuttering Jimmy, the Flying Dutchman, and the 
Educated Hog. I do not mean to accuse Col. Gray, or to implicate 
him in any way in the odium which necessarily attaches to the 
introduction of this class of witnesses into his case. He took the 
earliest opportunity, when he got upon the stand, to say that he was 
very sorry that these men had been called, and explained that he was 
absent from the city at the time, and had no part in their introduction. 
I have no doubt of this statement whatever. It is in harmony with 
much that has been apparent here during the course of these pro- 
ceedings. This is not his case. He has had little to do with it. During 
the greater part of the time it has been in progress, he has been absent 
in Harrisburg. He rarely appeared before this committee, and then 
only for a short time. He had little to do with the selection of the 
witnesses, and I doubt if his counsel, Mr. Briggs, had any more ; for the 
counsel was as much surprised by the testimony of these professional 
experts as as anybody else. No, it is not Mr. Gray who is to be held 
responsible for this supreme act of folly and wickedness, but those 
officials who advised and dii'ected the proceedings on the part of the 
respondent from the second story chamber of the " Little Brown Jug," 
and whose active management is seen in every part of this case. 
Mr. Chairman, I shall not insult the common sense of this committee 



129 

by any lengthened examination of the testimony of these witnesses, but 
shall content myself with simply referring to one or two instanc< s in 
which their folsehood is apparent. William Douglass, one of thes;e 
witnesses, testified that he went into the fifteenth division of the Twen- 
tieth Ward, and there met a man named Dugan, and that he saw Dugan 
give McClure tickets to four ex-jwlice officers, and that these four men 
voted for Col. McClure, in that division, between the hours of ten and 
twelve o'clock. Now if you will examine the vote cast and returned in 
that precinct, you will see that Col. McClure has proved his vote for 
those hours by the production of the honest voters whose names appear 
upon the voting list, and therefore no fraudulent vote could have been 
polled for him. The witness further says that he went to Eleventh and 
Girard avenue, and there saw Lynch voting men between the hours 
of four and five. Apply the same test, and you will find that Col. 
McClure proved his honest vote during those hours in excess of the 
number returned for him; so that either the witness is perjured, or the 
conclusion is inevitable, namely, that the votes which he says were 
polled, were cast in the interest of the other side. 

"Gopher Bill" and a man named Echternacht come next upon the 
•stand, and swear that, in company with Dutchman, they went into the 
Fourth Senatorial District and voted with Lynch's party for Col. 
McClure ; but when Dutchman is called he denies all that. His conscience 
is a little tender. He swears that there is no truth in the statement that 
they went up there to vote for Col. McClure, but he does say that Ser- 
geant Lynch offered him $10 to come before the Committee and swear 
to such a state of facts as has been testified to by the other witnesses. 
Immediately on the heels of this witness comes Boone, another of the 
party, who denies that he voted at all, although the other witnesses had 
positively sworn that they saw him vote. After that comes Lynch him- 
self, the head and front of this offending, who denies having received 
any money from anybody, and flatly contradicts his associates, Echter- 
nacht, Stuttering Jimmy and Gopher Bill, and swears that he had not 
seen Dutchman from the autumn of 1872 until the morning that he 
came before the Committee to testify, on which day Lynch admits that 
he saw him in a saloon upon Eleventh street. More than this, he saj'S 
that for several days previous to his examination he had visited the 
house kept by Mr. Glenn, on Swanwick street, and had there met Mr. 
Tittermary and others, who, it has been shown in this case, had money 
to use for election purposes. Mr. Lynch, it will be remembered, had 
early evinced his interest in the success of the Republican ticket by 
attending upon the Gray nominating convention whil-e it was in session. 

This brief and necessarily hasty and imperfect summary covers most 
of the testimony in this case. I do not intend to refer to Col. Gray's 
testimony — you will recollect it — nor to the testimonv of Gilbert, from 

y 



130 

the Navy Yard, who is, no doubt, known by reputation to some of the 
members of this Committee — nor to the few scattering witnesses which 
remain on either side. Neither do I think it worth while to pay any 
attention to the statements of the witness Briggs, who was called on the 
part of tlie respondent, because he was so completely demolished 
by my friend, Mr. Cassidy, on the cross-examination, that it is hardly 
worth while to waste time upon him. Summed up in a few words his 
story amounts to this, that he got some money in a strange house, from 
some one he didn't know, and that he used a portion of it to pay for 
electioneering Col. McOlure's ticket, [which was a perfectly honest use to 
make of it,] and the balance, or so much of it as didn't go into his own 
jjocket, was spent in indiscriminately treating men of both parties upon 
election day. The value to be set upon Mr. Briggs' testimony I submit 
is not sufficient to justify any further comment. 

Now, this is the whole of the respondent's case, so far as the general 
testimony is concerned. The learned counsel have not attempted to 
sustain any of the numerous charges contained in their answer as to the 
remaining election divisions. They have contented themselves simply 
with showing their vote in 9 of the 15 divisions assailed by us. 

What, then, is to be the effect of this testimony? That is the practi- 
cal question. Assuming that I have satisfied you that the returns, as to 
these 15 divisions, are false and unreliable as a piece of evidence, and 
as such are to be utterly disregarded, how is the testimony which you 
have heard as to the votes cast for the two candidates in the assailed 
divisions to be treated? That is the next and final point of inquiry. 

There are two views to take of this part of the case — each of which 
may possibly commend itself to the Committee, and I therefore feel 
it incumbent on me to state them for your consideration. Col. Gray's 
counsel has shown in 10 of the assailed divisions 479 votes cast for his 
client, and 5 votes cast for Col. McClure. I include in this count, as I 
have already stated to you, all suspected or doubtful votes. But this 
does not cover the whole of the legal votes cast in those divisions for 
either candidate. 

Senator Dill. — Does that include the sixth division of the Nineteenth 
Ward? 

Mr. Hagert. — No, sir. I treat of that apart from the others. I 
speak now of the 15 divisions which are assailed by us. Let us take, for 
example, the twentieth division of the Nineteenth Ward. ]\Ir. Briggs 
has there shown 62 votes cast for Col. Gray. Now, if you will examine 
the list of voters, you will find that in the twentieth division of the 
Nineteenth Ward there were in all 226 votes polled; referring to our 
testimony you will find that 12 of these votes are shown to be persona- 
tions, and deducting the 12 from the 226, you have left 214 honest votes 
as polled on that day. Is it enough for Mr. Briggs to say, " I have shoAvn 



131 

62 votes cast for Mr. Gray, aud therefore I am to have 62 majority in 
that division?" Is that the way the Committee are to consider it? I 
tliink not. It is the duty of this Committee, under the law, to find who 
received the greatest number of legal votes at the election of January 
^■'Oth. On th.e other hand, are you satisfied from the 62 votes proved by 
Mr. Briggs that that is Mr. Gray's proportion of the 212 honest votes 
cast in this division? If so, then to whom belong the remainder of the 
212 votes polled? I submit, as a legal and logical conclusion, that the 
votes which he has not shown to have been cast for Col. Gray are to be 
counted for Col. McClure. T think it is a fair inference if our friends 
on the other side have undertaken to show their vote and have proved 
but 62 votes, that the remainder are to be credited to us. If you 
adopt this view of the case,4he result in figures will be as follows. Col. 
Gray has proved in the contested divisions 479 votes, aud deducting 
these 479 votes from the whole number of honest votes shown to have 
been cast in those divisions, it will leave Col. McClure's majority in 
those divisions 1,323, which, added to 423, his majority in the remaining 
uncontested divisions, will make his total majority 1,746. 

There is another view of this testimony Avhich the Committee may 
prefer to adopt, and which I think is better calculated to do justice to 
the honest vote of the divisions; and that is, to give credit to all the 
votes proved on either side in these 15 divisions. As the result of this 
mode of treating the testimony, the Committee will give effect to that 
which you find to be the true vote of those divisions, so far as the evi- 
dence in this case discloses it, and by adding these to the vote of the 
remaining divisions you will arrive at what is the true aggregate vote 
for both candidates. Applying this rule, we find that the respondent 
has proven 479 votes to have been cast for him in these contested divi- 
sions, while Col. McClure has proven in the same divisions 659 votes to 
have been cast for him; giving him, upon the votes proved in the con- 
tested divisions, a majority of 180 votes. Adding the majority thus 
proved to the majority returned for him in the uncontested divisions 423, 
and the total majority for Col. McClure is 603. 

That majority can only be afl'ected, and that in an immaterial degree, 
by the proof of votes in the sixth division of the Nineteenth Ward, if 
the committee, upon reflection, should conclude to give effect to those 
votes. Col. Gray claiuis 98 votes in that division, and has shown 48 
polled for Col. McClure. making Col. Gray's majority in the division 
50, and reducing Col. McClure's general majority from 603 to 553. 

That, gentlemen, is the conclusion to which I think the law and the 
evidence in tiiis case must lead this Committee. Of the mode by which 
that conclusion is reached, I think no man can reasonably complain. 
In the treatment and application of the facts and figures, it is equally 
fair to both sides. It disfranchises no man whose vote has been shown 



132 

here. It gives full effect to every legal vote wliicli has been proven. ■ 
It is not obnoxious to the reproach that it seeks to cast out divisions. 1 
It does not reject polls; it retains them, by giving credit for every 
honest vote which is proved to have been cast for either candidate. 

My client does not desire, and I would not consent to ask, the mem- 
bers of this Committee to do so great a violence to the opinions which 
some of them have heretofore expressed upon this question, and which 
are known to be shared by the political associates of those gentlemen, 
as would be involved in the rejection of entire polls, and the disfran- 
chisement of whole bodies of legal voters. Such a proceeding would 
be even more destructive of the purity and freedom of elections than 
the frauds of which we complain, because perpetrated under the color of 
law. Happily, as I stated in the outset of my remarks, the necessities 
of the contestant's case require no such sacrifice of principle. By a j 
majority of the honest voters of the Fourth District he was elected to 
a seat in the body of which you are members, and only by an honest 
count of that vote does he seek to establish his right to that seat. 

You, gentlemen, have an important duty to perform in this case, and 
your way is clear to do it. It is not merely to do justice to Col. j 
McClure, but al.so, in so doing, to hold up to public indignation and 
censure the frauds and disorders whicli characterized the late Senatorial 
election, and the combinations and influences which contrived and 
directed those frauds. We have shown to you such a state of things 
existing in Philadelphia as was never before presented to any court or 
committee of the Legislature, We have shown you a case made out 
beyond question or cavil; a case in which, if your decision should be 
that Col. McClure is entitled to his seat, you will have done simple jus- 
tice to him; but you will have done more than that, for you will have 
set the stamp of your reprobation upon that system of fraud, corrup- 
tion, bribery and violence which has grown up in the City of Philadel- 
phia under the Registry Act of 1869. 



I' 



ARGUMEITT FOE RESPOSTDEHT. 



BY AMOS BRIGGS. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : — 

We all ought to enter upon the discharge of this duty with the determi- 
nation to get at the facts of the case, and to do ample justice to all parties, 
without regard to which one of the parties to the contest it may affect. 
Much has been said by Mr. Ilagert which is outside of the issue, and 
much has been said that is not at all supported by the evidence. By re- 
ferring to the petition, we get at a single glance the issue that is made up 
by the pleadings. The averment on the very first page is that they seek 
to set aside the election as returned, because they charge the return to be 
false and the election undue. Now these are the only two considerations 
to which we ought to direct our attention. We have nothing to do with 
the Registry Law, and we have nothing to do with the Board of Aldermen. 
They are official acts and official bodies, sanctioned by all of the solenin- 
nities that attended any enactment that has ever passed. Is the return 
false? If it is, set it aside. Has the election been undue? If so, declare 
■A vacancy. Now these are the only questions. One must be elected, 
unless a tie has occurred, or the result is in such a maze of confusion as 
to be utterly incapable of being deciphered, in which event a new election 
will have to be declared. 

Now, my friend Mr. Hagert began by an attack upon the Registry Law. 
Let me suppose, for the sake of the argument, that all his strictures and 
criticisms made upon the Registry Law are well founded, how can he 
alter it, or you ? Is it not the law of the land, and are you not bound to 
regard it as such until it shall be modified or repealed by proper legis- 
lation ? lie conceives that it does injustice to the Democratic party. 
Very well, concede for the sake of the argument that it does. That is a 
very excellent reason why some one should take action upon it upon the 
floor of this Senate or the House of Representatives, and convince the 
Senate or the House that it needs amendment or requires repeal. How 
can you sit in judgment in regard to your own legislation ? Was this law 
passed by fraudulent expedients ? That is not pretended. It is presumed 



134 

to be for the time being the perfection of legislative wisdom. So far as 
this law is concerned, it is utterly out of the question. I conceived at 
once the purpose Mr. Ilagert had in view by referring to the Registry Law, 
which was to show you what facilities were oflE'ered to dishonest men for 
the purpose of concocting schemes of fraud and carrying them into exe- 
cution. That was his object, but has he not a remedy to prevent just the 
consummation of such a result? Does not the Registry Law contain a 
provision whereby, if improper men are foisted upon the minority by the 
action of the majority, they may review that action ? Can he not, upon 
a petition of any five citizens, go into the Court of Common Pleas, and 
occupy the time of the Court in reviewing that which has been improperly 
done? The remedy provided in the Registry Law is presumed to give him 
all the redress he needs, and if he cannot get it there, it is simply because 
the law has put its fiat upon his right, which binds alike him and you. 
Am I not right in this view of the question ? And if I am, what has the 
Registiy Law, gentlemen of the committee, to do with this case? 

Permit me to read from the 25th Section of the law, as at present 
existing, " that the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County 
of Philadelphia, shall have power to revise all appointments of election 
canvassers and election officers, made by the Board of Aldermen for any 
election division, on petition of five reputable householders." Has Mr. 
Hagert, in his criticism or review of this law, shown you or alleged that 
he or any one in the interest of the minority or the Democratic party com- 
plained to the Court of improper appointments? Here is the remedy. It 
is pointed out in the very act itself, and if he does not seek to avail him- 
self of its provisions, he is estopped by his own acts. 

Again, complaint is made with reference to the action of the Board of 
Aldermen under this Registry Law. Have they any discretion with 
regard to the discharge of their duty? Are they not bound by the oaths 
they have taken and the obligations of their office to act, and to act as 
their best judgment dictates? Have they the discretion, and may they 
fail to discharge the duty ? If they do so, I ask you if a writ of manda- 
mus would not require every one of them to come up to the full discharge 
of his duty? These are views which present themselves to me, and I 
submit them to you with the belief that they dispel entirely the theory 
Mr. Hagert seeks to set up, and I thinlv they cannot be gainsayed. U the 
Board of Aldermen, under the provisions of the Registry Law, have a 
duty imposed ujjon them which requires them to act, then their action is 
not any infringement of the right of the elector, but a simple performance 
of the duty required by law, which, if not performed, would be a derelic- 
tion of duty. 

Again, Mr. Hagert makes a wholesale attack upon the men appointed 
under the Registry Law. They were inefficient and unreliable, unworthy 
of respect, and incapable in point of intelligence of discharging their dulj'. 



135 

1 have already shown you where the remedy is to meet such a contingency 
as that. It is either here by repealing the law, or it is in our courts of 
justice upon a petition duly presented ; and as I have before said with 
regard to this, I can only say in repetition, that if these alternatives do 
not give a remedy, it is the fault of the Legislature or of a majority of the 
people. 

You, sitting here as judicial officers, can only enforce the law, and not 
reform or modify it. What have you, gentlemen of the committee, to do 
with the convention which nominated Mr. Gray? That is a part and 
parcel of party machinery, and it is not essential under the law of the 
Commonwealth. Mr. Gray, like Mr. McClure, could have been nominated 
without any party at all, or without any convention at all. He might 
have been nominated at his own solicitation by announcing himself as a 
candidate, or at the solicitation, as was Col. McClure, of a few friends, 
inviting him themselves to be a candidate. What have you to do with 
the convention which nominated Mr. Gray ? and yet it occupied consi- 
derable space in the line of Mr. Ilagert's argument. He said that that 
convention was disgraceful, and great violence prevailed during its sittings 
and that Lieut. Axe was there for the purpose of taking possession of the 
entrance and preserving order. Gentleman, that thing has been harped 
and heralded through this Commonwealth long enough, and I am only 
happy that he has made allusion to it here, that I have an opportunity to 
stamp it with what it deserves — that it is untrue in point of fact. A more 
quiet, peaceful convention than that which nominated Col. Gray, never 
sat in the Citv of Philadelphia. Those of you, gentlemen, who take your 
information from the journals and newspapers with regard to it, get 
.simply your information fi-om the impulses and the warped judgments of 
men, and not the truths. There was some determination on the part of 
the fi-iends of Mr. Kneass to procure his nomination, it is true. Certain 
men from the lower part of the city went there foi- the puipose of forcing 
his nomination, whether the convention desired it or not. Lieut. Axe, as 
he should, taking time by the forelock, kept back these people, who came 
fi-om other localities to inteifere where they had no rights, and preserved 
order. Not a blow was struck, not a harsh word was said. Every man 
who hod a right to cast his vote gave it, and it resulted in the nomination 
of Mr. Gray. Let this calumny about this convention cease. Let justice 
be done by the dissemination of the truth in regard to it. 

Again, Mr. Hagert makes an attack upon the police department, upon 
the National administration, as far as the City of Philadelphia is concerned, 
and upon the local administration of Philadelphia, He says they contri- 
buted money. He seems to imply, and in fact says, that Col. Gray re- 
ceived assistance to a large amount by reason of these taxations or 
assessments. I ask, how a man reaching the age of discretion and the age 
of experience that Mr, Hagert has, will stand up in this Senate Cliamber, 



136 

before this Committee, and announce as a startling fact that, upon the 
inauguration of campaigns, ofiBcials are taxed for the purpose of defraying 
the expenses incidental to the prosecution of a campaign? Is there a man 
upon this Committee that was not taxed during the last election, during 
his own candidacy, to raise money for the purpose of prosecuting that 
campaign ? Ts there a man upon this Committee that did not respond to 
the assessment that was imposed upon him ? I do not believe that there is 
one of you that can say you have not been taxed, an^i some of you, I 
have no doubt, were taxed to a larger extent than you desn-ed to be. 
Yet by stringent party requirements when you accept the nomination 
for an office, you have to pay your tax. I speak of this only because 
Mr. Hagert has gone outside of the line of the argument. He has been 
an officer hitnself, and I have no doubt that he has been the victim of 
this taxation. I do not use the word victim in any offensive sense, be- 
cause it is utterly impossible to carry on arad put in operation the party 
machinery except by resort to such expedients as this. It is well we 
have parties. It is well we have powerful organizations, the one to 
watch the other. It is well we have men to contribute tiiese amounts of 
money for the purpose of carrying on party organizations, in order tnat 
the proper equilibrium may be kept up. But, then, what does this insinua- 
tion, this allusion to taxation on the part of several administrations, local, 
State and general, in the City of Philadelphia, to do with this contest? It 
is an unpardonable sin for the police force to contribute anything, as if 
the police force m the City of Philadelphia had never been taxed before. 
Why, if I were to go outside of the argument and say that under the 
administration of Mayor Fox men were taxed for party purposes, I could 
show that men were not taxed one dollar a head, but taxed a whole month's 
salary, and I would but speak the truth, because men were then taxed to 
such an extent that they could not paj' it. Does it follow because that 
was done under Mayor Fox's administration, that it was done to carry out 
a nefarious purpose, to cheat the elector out of his vote? No, sir. It was 
to keep in operatio;i the party machinery. Wherever they proved assess- 
ments of money from the different departments during the last campaign, 
they simply prove that means were furnished fjr the legitimate purposes 
of prosecuting the contest. VYhat are the police to do on election day ? 
A great clamor is raised that money was contributed for the purpose of 
cheating the electors, for the purpose of enabling repeaters, bad, wicked 
men, to come from other districts into this district, to affect this election. 
Gentlemen, is this true? You have heard all the testimonj^. It no 
doubt happened, as it always happens in a city like Pliiladelphia, that there 
■was cheatmg by bad men, but when it comes to be narrowed down by the 
gentlemen who have heard this testimony from beginning to end, it evapo- 
rates into thin air, and is not seen to any great extent. You heard the 
testimony on both sides. You know there are two sides to this question. 



137 

Col. Gray is the favored one in regard to the funds collected on his side. 
Col. McClui-e, says my friend Mr. Hagert, with his own money and that 
furnished by a few fi-iends, prosecutes it on his side. That is averred, 
and I do not complain of it. But remember, there is a possibility of Col. 
McCIure having one friend more powerful than the City of Philadelphia 
combined, and if I had his one friend 1 would ask no other. I do not 
complain of that. Tt is fair; for by the legitimate use of money, meetings 
can be held and addresses can be made wherebj' the electors may be con- 
vinced, and if by reason of these expedients he obtain an advantage over 
!Mr. Gray — [ won't say undue advantage, but an advantage — that is so 
much to his account. I have nothing to say. So long as the field is open 
and the contest a fair one, the opportunities are equal. Let him who has 
the advantage in point of organization succeed. I think it was Mr. Jeffer- 
son who said in one of his messages, I think the first. " That error may be 
safely tolerated as long as reason may be left free to combat it." 

Senator Buckalew. — I believe Mr. Jefferson said it, but he borrowed 
it from Milton. 

Mr. Briggs.— So with regard to these gentlemen. Col. McClure and Col. 
Gray. They and their friends have a right to go before the people and 
broach what error they please. It may be tolerated as long as reason 
on the other side is left free to combat it. I do not compbiin of Col. 
McClare, nor do I think that Col. Gray is to be complained of in regard 
to this. 

Well, he complains of the police. I will come to that presently ; I will 
advert to it briefly now. He complains of the police taking an active part 
in behalf of Col. Gray. Well, policemen of Philadelphia have some rights 
as well as you have rights, as well as I have rights. Policemen, simply 
because they are such, because of their office, it becomes their duty to pro- 
tect the citizens and protect the poll. Nevertheless they do not lose their 
citizenship. They have the right to vote, and have the same interest in 
the candidates as when they were not policemen. Simply becau^;e a man 
is a policeman and a member of a party oi'ganization, it does not follow that 
he loses all his interest in that party organization. Circumspection is re- 
quired of him that he does not use the power of his authority to defeat a 
free expression of the popular will. 

I will say a word in regard to these policemen when I get upon the 
evidence. I am sweeping away now simply what I consider irrelevant 
matter which should not have been introduced into the case at all. 

Again : he says, it is not Col. Gray's fight, but it is the fight of Col. Gray's 
friends. Gentlemen, it is Col. Gray's fight and the friends of Col. Gray. 
It does not matter whose flgfit it is. That is not the i.ssue. Tt is not the 
question whether it is Col. McClure's fight, or Col. Gray's fight, or the 
fight of the friends of Col. Gray. The question is, has Col. McClure or 
Col. Gray been elected by the majority of the electors ? But I will meet 



138 

this side issue, that it is not the fight of Col. Gray. Who else, pray tell 
me, has fought it ? It has been insinuated here to-day, it has been insinu- 
ated with a persistence rarely witnessed during the whole of our defence, 
that Col. Gray was not working it up, and Col. Gray's friends wore. Is 
that a crime? Is that a reason why Col. Gray should lose his seat if he 
was elected ? If his friends cotne to the rescue, is it not commendable 
rather than ceasurable ? does it not show that he has friends who are 
entitled to his regard and respect ? Not Col. Gray's fight ! Whose 
fight is it? They tried, in their cross-examination of Mr. Gray on the last 
day of the examination, to show that it was Mr. Hill's tight, Mr. Titter- 
mary's tight, the fight of the officers in the Row offices, and they signally 
failed. Permit me to say, in justice to these gentlemen, that had they done 
less than they did, they would have been derelict to that duty which was 
due to hira as a standard bearer and an officer of the party to which they 
are attached. Nothing dishonorable was done by either of these gentle- 
men, and permit me to say, if surprises occurred during any of these in- 
vestigations that went on in the City of Philadelphia, it was not by the 
action of Mr. Tittermary or Mr. Hill. They are as free frem them as I 
am, and I stand here and make this declaration in order that justice may 
be done them. The question was very adroitly put by Mr. McClure to 
Mr. Gray, "When you refused to pay them money to bring men f;om New 
York to swear that they had repeated for me, did they not abandon your 
case?" You remember my objection. ''I object to that, Col. McClure, 
because that implies that Col. Gray has already testified that they did 
bring them here." Whereupon Col. McClure then said, " I will modify 
my question," and you remember how he changed it. I mention this, 
because it is a crying outrage that when half a do/.en reporters sat around 
that table and listened to those words, they should so report it, and 
scatter it broadcast throughoat the nation as to reflect on 'Mr. H:ll and Mr. 
Tittermary. Mr. Gray did not say that they stated that for $8,000 they 
could get testimony to overcome whatever might be produced by Col. 
McClure. He stated that when it was suggested to him that the expense 
of carrying on such a contest would be great, the question was spoken of 
as involving a large sum of money, but no special amount was named, and 
it was not named in connection with buying men to give false testimony. 
That was what he said, and it was said in your hearing ; and it will not 
do, gentlemen, to try and get up a wrangle between Mr. Gray and his 
party friends. That is none of your concern ; nor is it any of my concern, 
except as they charge this improper conduct on our side. 

Without going into the details of this irrelevant matter, which it seems 
to me ought never to have been drawn in here, let us come directly to the 
evidence bearing upon the issue, and permit me to say that I shall not go 
into the details of that evidence. That is utterly impossible. You know 
it is impossible, because of the great labor that was imposed upon me. I 



139 

have not had time to read the proofs of the testimony as presented, and I 
believe you have not. I was put under the spur, without relaxation or rest, 
from the time T began until my time expired, as I said to you before : 
whereas Col. McClure was required to labor for four days in succession, 
he was then allowed a respite for three days, including Sunday, whereby 
he might marshal his forces and gather together his scattered hosts; no 
such privilege was allowed me. I do not complain of it, because I always 
obey oi-ders and respect directions when given by those in authority. 

But the question in this case is, is this return false, is this election 
undue? Mr. Hagert has taken up two theories, one that you will reject 
the divisions in toto, and the other that you will reject the returns. Ex- 
actly where the distinction is, I am not able to perceive in view of the 
logic that he uses. If he means to reject the return, which is simply the 
certificate by virtue of which Col. Gray has obtained his seat, then that 
remits us back tj where the vote was the hour before the certificate was 
"•iven. If it means that— and it must mean that or mean what he con- 
tends for in his other proposition, namely, the proposition to reject the 
entire vote— then you have nothing to do but to count the votes and throw 
out such as were illegal. 

Now, have you got that power— the power to reject divisions? You 
have almost, I was going to say, omnipotent power. Certainly it is beyond 
any review. You may throw out divisions to such an extent as to over- 
come the majority of Col. Gray and give the seat to Col. McClure. If you 
do, it must be considered, as far as the vote is concerned, the perfection of 
your judgments. Have you that power ? You have ! Is it right that you 
shall so exercise it under the oath you have taken and under the obliga- 
tions that rest upon you in the line of your duties? Can you, conscien- 
tiously, gentlemen, in the discharge of that duty, say you have discharged 
it, when, because in the cases he has adverted to, during the hourly 
returns an officer has returned Col. McClure 4 votes when he has received 
6, you wipe out of existence an entire poll, and disfranchise all honest 
voters, because of the misconduct or fraud of an officer ; because of the 
negligence or eri-or, or want of proper knowledge, on the part of an officer 
to discharge his duty, will you, under such circumstances as that, set aside 
the whole poll ? Does he not in this case give you the true rule of ascer- 
tainment, whereby you can count the votes? Does he not do that in the 
very tabular statement he has presented? I have not seen it, but it is 
gotten up with fair accuracy I have no doubt. Does it not enable you to 
determine how many votes are legal and how many illegal, and is not that 
the true test? Why, because a few dishonest votes get into a poll in this 
great centre of population, when we are excited by the most wide-spread 
popular feeling, when we have many of the worst elements that exist in 
any community, are you, because a few illegal and fraudulent votes gej 
^nto a poll , put there by bad and designing men, going to vitiate the whole poll 



140 

and deprive us of the privilege of producing the legal vote with a view to 
prove what it was ? Away with such nonsense and absurdity ! Tell me 
not that it will be sustained for a single instant by an intelligent conunittee I 
Tell me not that it will be sanctioned by an enlightened public sentiment ! 
What, give to me eight days to count aad prove the vote of 24,000 
electors, for that is the vote that was cast in this district, and then tell 
me, because he has impeached it to a certain exigent, say one-tenth, or any 
figure, that he may stop there and cast upon me the burden of proving my 
legal votes! The task is impossible, and I know that none of you will 
think of imposing such a duty upon me. It cannot be done. Take up 
that return, a certified copy of which I put upon your desk this morning, 
of the October election, in virtue of the request you made of me, and 
which Mr. Cassidy and I agreed should be put there. I obtained it from 
the Prothonotary's office, and have no doubt of its correctness, although 
I do not know ; it is taken from the transcript, which is in the office. 
Take up the figures, which are there mentioned, and then ask yourselves, 
is it possible for either party, is it possible for Col. McClure in the five 
days, for which he asked and which you gave hira, to prove his votes; is 
it possible for me to prove in five days the vote of Col. Gray? It is 
utterly impossible, and therefore it is improbable that you should take that 
as the basis of calculation, upon which to reach a result in your conclusion. 
It would take three months to do it under the protracted process of 
examination, under the tardy manner of bringing witnesses before you, 
whose business require them to attend to their duties, instead of obeying 
subpcenas, and the assistants of the Sergeant-at-Arms would have to be 
multiplied indefinitely, for the purpose of bringing them in. I have referred 
to this simply to show you the fallacy of such a view, and, if fallacious, 
you must abandon it, and take up the only true theory that can be adopted. 
Is it a false return; has the election been undue? These words consti- 
tute the case, and we cannot escape from them. If the return is false, 
wherein is it false? Is it not to be presumed that the return is correct? 
Is it not to be presumed that men acting under oath acted correctly, 
acted honestly, acted intelligently in the discharge of their duty, or are 
you to suppose that the return is erroneous, that it is false, and cast the 
burden of proof upon me of proving that it is not? Is it not the correct 
principle that fraud is not to be presumed but proved ; and, when proved, 
it vitiates the advantage sought to be gained by the fraudulent actor? 
Now, understand me. Mr. Hagert did not mean to claim, in the broad 
sense in which he uttered the expression, that because frauds had crept 
into the ballot-box, that, therefore, the whole vote shall be vitiated. 
Permit me to say to you that such adoctiine cannot apply to a community 
of interests, as must be conceded, where multitudes of people cast 
tiieir votes, and threw them into a common receptacle, simply because he 
or I were guilty of any improper or fraudulent expedient, it would only 



141 

vitiate the vote we cast. It would not ramify through any other channels 
and corrupt the votes of any other electors. Is not that true doctrine, and 
can it be gainsayed ? Therefore, in my judgment, and I only want to 
present my views, in my judgment and in my view, tlie maxim or rule 
that fraud vitiates everything it touches must be restricted end confined 
to the guilty actor in the fraud. It does not vitiate that with which it 
comes in contact. I will not take any other illustration than that which 
he has used. He takes a fraudulent deed. Suppose, while I am address- 
ing you, a burglar opens my fire-proof and takes out my deed, am I to be 
injured ? Suppose the notes or bonds I have there are mutilated, is my 
right to recover upon them gone, because the evidence of my right to 
recover upon them is mutilated or destroyed by a man over whom I had no 
control ? Does that give an advantage to the other parties ? Certainly 
not! My deed that is erased, that is mutilated, is just as good for the 
purpose of title, after the wrong-doer mutilated it as before he did it, 
because I was not a parAy to the fraud ; so with regard to a vote. Now, 
if these people, gentlemsn of the committee, went into that district with 
their bands; supposing that they did, under the evidence, and packed the 
ballot boxes in certain divisions to a certain extent, under the legal pre- 
sumption that I have adverted to, that fraud is not to be .presumed, or the 
return rejected, until it is impeached, it becomes your duty, T respectfully 
• submit; to purge the poll. I have shown you that the process of purgation, 
by counting the vote, is a physical impossibility — that it cannot be done. 
You know that it cannot be done. :\ly friend Mr. Hagcrt and my friend 
]\Ir. Cassidy know it cannot be done in the time that was given to either 
one or the other. They have sought to impeach certain divisions. They 
know that that could not be done in the time they have given— that tht 
vote could not be called out on their side, and they have made but a faint 
attempt to call it out on their side. I exhausted every minute I had, and 
well nigh exhausted myself in the attempt to meet them. 

Then the fraudulent vote, vitiating only the guilty act of the fraudulent 
agent, does it not follow that the votes remaining are legal votes? Does 
it not follow that he who avers fraud must prove it, and where the proof 
stops the fraud stops? But he goes further, and he seeks to impeach the 
poll by saying that the officers themselves acted improperly. What if 
they did ? Is that a reason, in a division where 500 ballots are cast, 
where every ballot is legal and not one is illegal, because an officer refuses 
to do his duty, or does it in a corrupt way, is that a reason why the 500 
legal voters shall be disfranchised ? Is it not a reason why the oflBcer 
Bhould be punished? Let the punishment follow the perpetrator of the 
fraudulent act, but don't let the innocent and the guilty be punished 
alike. 

That brings us down to the proposition— I state it deliberately— that 
in no case, in my judgment, can a poll be set aside except where an 



142 

election is not held at the place prescribed by law and at the time pre- 
scribed by law. I will show you what I mean by this. Every elector 
knows, by viitue of the law of the land, the day when an election shall 
be held, and the place where the election is to be held, and knowing that, 
if he votes at another time, or at another place, it is his own voUmtary 
act in thus erroneously offering his vote, and the fraud, if there be any, is 
traceable to him, and he is a party to the fraud, and therefore sutlers. 
But if he votes at the time specified by law, and at the place appointed 
by law, and he acts in good faith, but the officer is guilty of not dis- 
charging his official duty, I ask you if that is a case where those instances 
disfranchise him ? I respectfully submit not. 

Then what shall be done? If the act of an illegal vote by an illegal 
voter will not affect the poll, if the illegal act of the officer will not aU'ect 
the vote, and the poll is not affected by the fraudulent action of the officer, 
what 'does affect it ? It is affected, not because of the fraud of the officer, 
but because of the confusion ; because that whitrfi has been brought in 
cannot be deciphered, and because of the impossibility of separating the 
legal from the illegal vote that you declare that the vote shall be rejected. 
It is entirely for a different reason, for a different consideration, entirely 
different, I respectfully submit to you. The poll cannot be set aside, or 
the return rejected in any event, unless it is incapable of being deciphered, 
and the legal separated from the illegal vote. Can that be done in this 
case? Take up the paper that Mr. Hagert has read to you here, from 
which he has made his comments, which covers all the divisions he has 
referred to, and does not that memorandum give you figures from wliich 
you can make your calculations, and deduce the actual vote by deducting 
that aggregate to which they claim to be entitled ? That leaves Col. Gray 
elected by 600 or 700 majority. That theory they ignore. They aban- 
doned that theory at an early stage of their investigations. They started 
out with it, but abandoned it, because they knew it would be impossible 
to prove votes enough to defeat Mr. Gray, and they then resorted to the 
proposition, which is becoming entirely too popular, of throwing out 
entire divisions, and disregarding them. 

With regard to that, I have taken up the divisions where, according to 
the vote that Col. McClure has proved fraud existed, and I, for the pur- 
pose of the argument, will have to assume that the testimony is correct, 
although it is very uncertain, because we had two elections for Senator 
within three months, and by reason of that I have no doubt many men on 
both sides stated that they had voted at the January election, when they 
had actually only voted at the October election. But we must take the 
testimony exactly as we have it. I have, in this little table that I pre- 
pared, taken the divisions wherein he has proved his vote in excess of the 
credit given him in the return. That shows a reason for correction. It 
shows that the return should be corrected, supposing the testimony to 



113 

be true; but does it follow that because Col. McClure has proven that the 
vote has been uuduly returned, to a certain extent, that therefore the poll 
is fraudulent to every other extent. That is the proposition con- 
tended for by my friends on the other side. I take the lirst one as it 
appears upon the specifications of their petition. Take the 8th division 
of the 19th ward. Gray is returned as having received 145 votes, and 
McClure as receiving 47. In that division Mr. McClure proves 55, a gain 
of 8. Now, since the burden of p'-oof rests upon him of proving fraud, 
he is bound to prove the fraud to the fullest extent. If he can show that 
he is credited with 8 votes less than he should be credited with, then com- 
mon justice requires that you should take that from Mr. Gray and give it 
to him, making a diflference of 16 votes in Col. Gray's majority in that 
division. Now, understand me, taking the proof as we have the proof, 
because I shall insist upon it, that personations cannot be counted except 
as it is proved that they voted for one or the other of the two candidates. 
Col. McClure, having proved that he received 8 votes in addition to what 
the return credited him with, is entitled to have the return corrected to 
that extent. If he has received 8 votes more than those for which he is 
credited, they fall to him as a legal consequence, and the reverse proposi- 
tion, that the 8 should be taken from the 145 with which Mr. Gray is 
credited, is correct. When that is dene it will make Col. McClure's vote 
55, and Mr. Gray's vote 137. Run this process through the 8th divisioji 
of the 19th ward, the 20th division of the 19th ward, the 4th, 7th and 
15th divisions of the 20th ward, and they aflect the result just 204. 

There are but five divisions out of all the contestant has assailed in his 
petition wherein he has proven votes in excess of those allowed him in the 
return. The eighth division of the 19th ward gives him 47, and he proves 
55, which, as I said before, is a gain of 8 to Col. McClure, and should be 
also deducted from the credit given to Col. Gray. In the 20th division of 
the 19th ward he gets 35, and proves 77, a gain of 42, and a corresponding 
loss to Col. Gray of 42. In the 4th division of the 20th ward he is credited 
with 79, and proves 105, a gain of 26, with a like loss to Mr. Gray. In 
the 15th division of the 20th ward he is credited with 108, and proves 126, 
a gain of 18, with a like loss to Mr. Gray. The gam to Col. McClure is 
there 102 ; the loss to Mr. Gray is 102. The two footed up make a differ- 
ence of 204 votes. 

Senator Mumma. — How many, did you say, in the 19th division of the 
20th ward ? 

Mr. Briggs. — 77. , 

Mr. Cassidt. — 93. 

Mr. Brisgs.— He is asking me, Mr. Cassidy. It is all very well fur you 
to answer. 

Senator Mumma.— The other side claim 93 ; which is correct? 

Mr. BaiGGS. — The diSerence between my friends and myself arises from 



144 

a difference of analysis. I am now on the proof of the votes. I am not 
regarding the personations, or those who voted and were afterward shown 
not to have been entitled to vote by reason of non-payment of taxes ; and 
when we dismiss these, there is very little difference between Mr. Cassidy 
and myself; there may be a trifling difference. 

These five divisions in these two wards are the only divisions in which the 
contestant has proved that he received votes in excess of the return given 
him. If, then, according to my princijjle of purgation, he should receive 
credit for the amount that he has proven, and the difference between what 
he is credited with, and the vote that he has proved should be deducted 
from Mr. Gray's return, that will make a difference of 204. Col. Gray 
receiving 12,312 votes, his corrected return, deducting the 102, would re- 
duce it to 12,210 votes. Col. McClure receiving 11,421 votes, by adding 
his gain of 102, makes his corrected return 11,524 votes. Deducting the 
amount returned for Col. McCiure from the reduced and corrected return 
of Col. Gray, leaves a balance in favor of Col. Gray of G87 votes. 

Now, my analysis or process of purgation is thus far complete in all of 
these five divisions, but it is maintained on the other side that we must 
not stop there. Why not? Do tiiey prove the number of votes with 
which they are credited in any other division ? If they do Bot reach the 
credit tiiat the return gives them, then they cannot impeach the return for 
want of miscount, but they have got to impeach it because of misconduct 
on the part of officers or some interference on the part of the citizenship 
outside whereby the poll was not free and open, and the voter could not, 
without disturbance, exercise the franchise of a freeman. It must come 
to that. If the poll was a free and open one, if the officers were guilty of 
no confusion whereby the vote could not be ascertained or deciphered, 
then there is no reason why we should go beyond the figures that I have 
just given you. Certainl}' Mr. McClure is entitled to the count that he 
has proven under every process of calculation ; but that is not enough to 
give him his seat, and hence his counsel contend that thej* must go farther 
and attack other divisions for general purposes, because the officers tam- 
pered with the ballot. Very well. If they did tamper with it, that is 
cause for critical investigation. That is reason why we should apply the 
severest analytical test to these divisions, and decipher if we can the legal 
from the illegal vote, and ascertain the extent of the tampered vote. I 
cannot go, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, into the detail of this subject, 
because I have not the data before me ; but I will accomplish the same 
thing to a better extent, in a more effective way, by speaking in general 
terms, leavmg you to fix the detail. Now, I have not read testimony, and 
I shall read but very little. In regard to every division that they have 
assailed, with the exception of possibly two or three, we have mot il 
squarely by proof. You, gentlemen, are cognizant of the fact that much 
rebutting testimony was given, and it is not necessary, as far as you are 



145 

concerned, to recapitulate. Much has been said outside, and my friend 
Mr. Hagert has certainly, to a considerable extent, pandered to the popu- 
lar sentiment by talking responsive to it in going outside of the real issue 
in the case, and so far as strangers are concerned, it doubtless seems like 
a very unfair and a very harsh thing on the part of the friends of Col 
Gray that this conduct should be perpetrated in a city claiming considera- 
tion for refinement, intelligence and respectability as Philadelphia does. 
Now, gentlemen of the committee, that they did prove in this contest that 
the police arrested parties at the poll is true, but I put the question to 
you in the first place, is it not to be presumed that an officer in the dis- 
charge of duty does that which the obligation of his position requires him 
to do ? If he does not, it is the duty of the aggrieved party to call him to 
an account. Now I go to the general testimony, and notvyithstanding 
these multiplied instances of police interference, we have got the startling 
conclusion before us that notwithstanding the fact that they are counted 
by hundreds, according to the testimony, not a solitary complaint has ever 
been lodged at police head-quarters against any policeman. Not one police- 
man has ever been called to account by an arrest or a charge for assault 
and battery. Not one word has ever been raised against them, and I refer 
to that fact in corroboration of the positive testimony of these gentlemen 
themselves, and the number of witnesses that I called disproving that 
which was alleged in their testimony, in other words, rebutting that which 
the contestant offered. It is a circumstance, and a potent one, that if I 
am assailed and I rest quietly under it when a contest arises between me 
and my assailant as to who was the aggressor, whether he or I began the 
fracas, it is a very potent circumstance that a man who felt himself 
aggrieved had taken no steps to right the wrong or to obtain redress. 

Then you have, as against this positive testimony, witnesses without 
number that the polls were not disturbed ; that the police interfered only 
when drunken men got into line, or pushed sober men out who were in the 
line approaching the polls, and that, in every instance, they interfered for 
cause. That is the testimony, gentlemen, I have upon these books, and 
which you have heard. You will, doubtless, refer to it, and if 1 overstate 
the case you will discount the statement, and take your own knowledge as 
derived from the analysis of the testimony ; but I, in passing in general 
review over this testimony, must say it seems to me we have rebutted in 
every case, with the exception of one or two divisions. Then, what was 
the duty of the police? To stand idly by, and see a man crazed with 
whiskey interfere with sober men desiring to vote peaceably and orderly ? 
I do not mean to say that a man who indulges in that temporarily, to such 
an extent as to unfit hfm for the ordinary observance of propriety for the 
time being, must be taken into custody ; but if the police did that they 
were acting pursuant to the legal requirements, and it is no violation of 
law, and it is no interference with the freedom of the election. It is said 
10 



146 

with regard to these other divisions that partisans, repeaters and bad men 
generally interfered. Very well. Didn't I meet this by producing wit- 
ness after witness, meeting them at every step, clearing up the allegations 
in regard to every poll with the exception of two or three? Did not I bring 
the witnesses before you ; were not they sworn, and did not you hear their 
story? That there should be misconception, that men will color their 
statements by their prejudices and view things from a difi'erent stand- 
point, is to be expected ; but when you have heard all the testimony, pro 
and con, it is not expected that you will give credence to the one side to 
the entire exclusion ,of the other side. We have many circumstances 
here of men, doubtless in the best faith in the world, swearing to their 
belief and their knowledge, yet at the same time it was as erroneous as 
falsehood itself was shown to be. Let me instance the young man whom 
j\Ir. Uhadwick testified to in regard to being a repeater. He became very 
much excited on the stand. He felt his manhood was tainted, and to use 
his own language it had gone all over the Commonwealth by the agency 
of the city papers. He tells you that he was at the polls all day, that 
every man knew him, that Mr. Chadwick knew him, and notwithstanding 
that he was called a repeater. 1 put the question to him whether he 
voted otherwise than in that division that day, and he said he did not. 
Mr. Hagert said there was a mistake. I said to him, you owe it to this 
young gentleman to make a public disclaimer, for it is a feai-ful thing to 
be branded in a community as a repeater : and Mr. Hagert rose at once, 
like a gentleman, as he is, and said there was a mistake there, and he was 
most happy to rectify it. In the great press of time we could not stop to 
correct mistakes. Hundreds of them came to me, and I said, " we are 
after votes ; votes are what I am counting, and only questions that touch 
the public interest can claun my attention now, for every minute I give 
you will lead to ten minutes' cross-examination, and that reduces my time — 
it is taken out of the time allotted to me." Therefore permit me to say, 
that with the exception of two or three divisions we met the allegations 
set up against us. Therefore I ask you when the testimony comes 
before you, that you will analyze it thoroughly, analyze it as it can only 
be done with a pen in the hand, and as it cannot be done here. I cannot 
take up nearly 700 pages of printed testimony spread out upon that book 
and analyze it properly within the compass of two hours. I can only 
allude to it in a general way. 

These divisions were attacked on the ground that repeaters interfered. 
That is a serious charge. It startles you who come from the country. I 
was reared in the country, and I know what a peaceful poll is. I was 
raised in the countiy, and yet in that quiet Quaker neighborhood, about 
four or live o'clock in the afternoon, we had a great many drunken men 
there. But that does not make any difference. If a man is drunk, you 
discount him instantly. You people may regard it as startling that in the 



147 

City of Philadelphia repeating prevails to so great an extent. It is start- 
ling from a standpoint of right. But it should be taken into consideration 
that our population is from 700,000 to 800,000, that we have 120,000 
voters and 8,000 rum shops in the City of Philadelphia, vrith a floating 
population of 40,000 to 50.000 men, women and boys living in, and eking 
out their subsistence from these places of low resort. They are ephemeral 
in their abodes, passing from place to place from day to day, subsisting as 
best they can, victims of this demagogue and of that, and yet under the 
free and easy manner of our elections they have the elective franchise in 
common with the highest dignitary of the Commonwealth. Is it surprising, 
then, in view of these dens of infamy, that bad men exist there and owing 
their subsistence to the uncertain chances of the hour? is it surprising that 
on election day, when every vote counts, designing men shall take these 
elements and use them for whatever purpose may be most advantageous to 
them ? Are we of the republican faith to be held responsible because a 
few unscrupulous men, having neither the fear of God nor of man before 
their eyes, are we to be held responsible for their doing when we cannot 
control them ? Simply because a few unscrupulous men get their votes 
illegally into the ballot box, are we, the legal voters, to be tabooed ? 

Let me say just at this point, and I put it at this committee, and I do 
it with great respect and with great earnestness, much is expected of you, 
infinitely more than can be expected of the class of men of whom I have 
been speaking. If these de.signing demagogues and unscrupulous villains 
taint the ballot to a given extent, it is your duty to purge it to that extent 
instead of adopting the damnable heresy enunciated here by Mr. Hagert 
this morning of throwing out whole divisions, and thereby, by your adju- 
dication, finish the bad work by taking it up where they left it off. Is it 
right, because ten men pollute a ballot, that therefore you shall thi'ow out 
a poll consisting of one hundred men ? I speak deferentially and respect- 
fully, and I agree with his Honor, Judge Thompson, in his view upon that 
point, and just here 1 will read it. I congratulate him upon it, Mr. Chair- 
man. I like him as a man, I admire him as a judge. He is my friend in 
the social relation, and he commands my admiration in his judicial position, 
and speaking of him as a lawyer and as a judge in this public way, it gives 
me pleasure to say it is not only my duty as a lawyer to endorse him be- 
cause he is one of the supreme arbiters, but it is my pleasure to endorse 
him becau.se it is my honest sentiment. In his decision in the election case 
of 1868 he laid down the doctrine which, although one of minority, was 
not sustained upon the point on which he put it, but I am happy to say it 
has since worked into the unanimous opinion of the court. It was regarded 
as a di.ssenting opinion, two out of five dissenting, but the point upon which 
he dissented was not even gainsayed by the majority of the court. Since 
that, in the case of Chad wick vs. Melvin , p. 251 , Brightly 's Sel Election Cases, 
it was decided in March term, 1871, Chief Justice Thompson delivering the 



148 

opinion, takes occasion to review what he said in his dissent in the election 
cases of 1868. " The doctrine," said he, " of striking out an entire division 
was held by the Common Pleas in that case." That is a reference to a 
decision in 1859 by Judge Taylor, in Cambria county, to the same effect. 
"In my opinion, this ought never to be done where a legal election as to 
time and place is held. Although fraudulent votes shall have been re- 
ceived, the remedy in such a case is to purge the poll by striking out the 
fraudulent votes if possible." 

Here is a decision— not the dictum of a judge, but the decision of the 
Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, the unanimous judgment of that 
Court, it being delivered by the Chief Justice. Apropos of what I have 
just said, you will pardon me for adverting to a judgment of your own 
body, one which you are probably more familiar with than I am, and as 
familiar, at all events, because three of you gentlemen joined in the report. 
I allude to the report in the Dechert case. Tt is directly in accordance 
with the view expressed by his Honor, Judge Thompson. 

In the majority report, you meet that question in these very words: 
"But there is an expressed desire or demand in these specifications that 
the returns of the six divisions assailed shall be wholly disallowed, and 
struck from the general return of the Senatorial district." Just what Mr. 
Hagert, in his alternatives that he presented to you this morning, asked 
you to do. It is to me a terrible doctrine. It is invoking the judicial 
authority at one stroke of the pen to annul an election, rather than go 
through the process of purging the poll by separating the legal from the 
illegal vote. I speak with warmth in regard to it, because I am satisfied 
that whether done by legislative committee or by a judge, the day is not 
far distant when it will produce revolution. The citizen will not stand 
idly by and sefe his rights frittered away by the bias or partisanship of one 
man. 

" This would be in contempt of both law and justice, and cannot be 
done by any tribunal in which a conscientious regard for duty shall pre- 
vail." I say amen to all that. The man or the tribunal who does that, 
whether he be Republican or Democrat, pays no respect to the law of the 
land. It is my honest living sentiment, and I utter it with warmth, that 
no honorable man that is fully familiar with all the circumstances that 
make up a case, ought to take a seat obtained under such circumstances. 

Senator Dill. — Do I understand you to endorse the report in the 
Dechert case ? 

Mr. Briggs. — I endorse what you say as to striking out polls. I have 
never examined the rest of the report so fully as to warrant me to say I 
endorse all your proceedings. 

Senator Dill. — The difference between this Committee and a Court is, 
that a Court has common law powers and this tribunal has not. 



149 

Mr. Briggs. — Yes, sir. That is the difference, as you state it, between 
this tribunal and a Court. 

" Under the pressure of party passion and of party interest, such free- 
handed treatment of the votes of the people may have been indulged in, in 
some recent instances, by subordinate courts and by legislative bodies." 
I am glad that those of you that wrote that had the nerve to say it, (and 
I say this, gentlemen, when some of the beneficiaries under the decisions 
that you criticise belong to my own political party.) that no man can 
afford to sacrifice a principle that may work permanent injury and injus- 
tice, because of temporary or momentary triumph. 

" But they are to be mentioned only to be condemned." I give that my 
heartiest approval. I am condemning it just as emphatically and just as 
earnestly, as you perceive, as I can condemn it. " They are among the 
most flagrant invasions of popular right which have characterized a time 
of war and the early years of returning peace, and furnish precedent only 
for times which shall be at once lawless and unjust. Good votes given at 
a lawful election, must be held sacred from the meddlesome hand of com- 
mittee or judge. They must not be sacrificed because bad votes are to be 
struck from the returns. They are to be carefully preserved and guarded 
from all molestation, even when inquisition is made for fraud, as consti- 
tuting the very breath of life to the free institutions under which we live." 
I want to know how man, with his imperfections, could improve the force 
of expression and the powerful argument that are given in this passage I 
have just read, and yet Mr. Hagert stands up here and asks you, in one of 
his alternatives pi'esented, to do just that thing. 

I pass on. You refer to a case in Brewster's Report, and you refer to 
an opinion of Chief Justice Thompson. I will read that. " The opinion 
of the Chief .Justice of this State upon this question, which was concurred 
in by Judge Sharswood, appears in 2 Brewster's Rep., p. 108. He says: 
'The argument that the legal voters of a district may be disfranchised by 
the base conduct of election oificers, or because frauds have been com- 
mitted by illegal voters without the slightest fault of the former, is the 
position of the contestants. * * * * x maintain that there is 
nothing which will justify the striking out of entire divisions, but an 
inability to decipher the returns, or by showing that not a single legal 
vote was polled, or that no election was legally held. If anything short 
of this is to have the effect, the right of every elector is at the mercy of 
the election officers. Such a right is no right— is worth nothing."' What 
can be more strong — what can be more expressive or more logical ? Am I 
to be disfranchised simply because my neighbor, crazed with rum or demo- 
ralized with villany, illegally gains an advantage in point of numbers? Is 
the whole poll to be thrown out simply because he and one or two others 
cheat? Punish one or two persons by inflicting disfranchisement upon 
the whole mass of honest voters? Yet Mr. Hagert's proposition comes to 



150 

that, and I pronounce it as damnable legal heresy and nothing else. I do 
not say this so emphatically out of any disrespect for INIr. Hagert, for he 
is one of the most amiable men at the Philadelphia bar, and my warm 
personal friend, as is his colleague, Mr. Cassidy, also. 

" This regulation of law is of no doubtful import in its bearing upon 
the present question. It indicates distinctly the duty of the committee 
to ascertain which candidate had the greatest number of legal votes, and 
by inevitable implication forbids their rejection of legal votes in reporting 
that any candidate is entitled to his seat. And it also provides, that where 
an election is invalid from any cause, they shall so report, and a new 
election shall be directed. Under this law, therefore, all pretence for 
rejecting an entire poll, at which any good votes have been given, and 
thereby changing the general result, and fixing the right of a candidate to 
his seat, is wholly excluded. This dangerous and odious power of counting 
men in or counting them out of their seats in the legislature, by the rejec- 
tion of returns of district elections, held in due form of law, and al which 
legal votes were polled, has therefore no foundation in the laws of this 
Commonwealth, any more than in the general pnnciples of justice." 
Now, what do you mean, gentlemen ? You say, " by the rejection of 
returns of district elections, held in due form of law." The words mean 
something or they mean nothing, and the subtle refinement that is exhibited 
here to-day of the difference between a return and a poll seems to me to 
have been introduced as a sort of back door for somebody to step out of 
to get rid of the decision in tne Dechert case. This is the last judicial 
decision on this question, and I stand by it because it is the last, and, 
permit me to say, it is the best that has yet been given. I won't do 
injustice to my sense of justice simply for the purpose of pandering to 
party requirement, although I know it is a favorite doctrine, or has been, 
by judicial and legislative action on the part of the party to which I 
belong to overslaugh the multitude rather than undergo the work of 
purging the poll of a few illegal votes. 

So much for your majority report. The minority afterward made a 
report in which they pronounced some strictures upon the majority report, 
and to which a rejoinder was appended. I read from the rejoinder to the 
reply, the answer to the minority report : 

" The committee, in their former report, stated some of the grounds of 
authority and reason upon which they denied the authority of any court 
or committee to sport with the votes of the people honestly given, and to 
reject them (and thus to change the results of elections,) in cases where 
election officers had misbehaved themselves, or some bad votes had been 
given along with good ones, and they need not now repeat what was then 
said by them." I like that word " sport." It is an expressive one. It 
is, indeed, sporting with a most solemn privilege — the franchise that has, 
under our government, been vouchsafed to the citizen. By it the whole 



151 

safety of the system is perpetuated. Without it the government would 
collapse. It is a high duty, this privilege of voting. "When a citizen 
exercises it, he exercises the highest franchise that a freeman possesses, 
and he who pollutes it, perpetrates treason to his government. 

■'It is their firm conviction that the laws do not authorize, and that 
public opinion will never sanction, the repudiation of honest and lawful 
votes from election returns for any reason except one of absolute neces- 
sity." That is my sentiment, and all I ask you to invoke here is the 
application of that doctrine. I have given you the last decision of the 
Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, pronounced in March, 1871, Chad- 
wick vs. Melvin, in Brightley's Sel. Election Cases, p. 251, and what I ask is 
the application of that doctrine. I have given you the last decision of the 
Supreme Court, and I have given you what is more here, the last decision 
of this very Senate, and the last is the best, and it is the law of the land 
until it is overruled. If this be law, what becomes of this heresy of Mr. 
Hagert's about striking out returns ? What becomes of this refinement 
of his, the difference between a poll and a return ? What is a poll ? A 
vote. What is a return ? A certificate of a vote. Suppose a return be 
wrong, what do you ? Why you are remitted at once to the count again. 
If you take it you must take the poll; for the poll is only the vote, and 
the return is only the statement of the vote ; and if you take the one you 
take the other. It is a distinction without a difference. I give you the 
law which governs the case, which must govern your case, let your judg- 
ment be what it will. Possibly you may give the seat to one or the other 
of these gentlemen. That is a finality; but there is a power that is even 
above you — that is one which controls you by results that will work out 
their own cure— and that is popular sentiment. What is being done now 
with regard to the registry law in the City of Philadelphia; a law that 
is the subject and has been the subject of bitter criticism ever since 
its passage? What is the result? All men, having regard for common 
fairness, say that common even-handed justice to the minority requires 
that their rights should be recognized, and that party that held every- 
thing within its grasp, and ruled it as with a rod of iron, is now trembling 
because popular sentiment pronounces some of its actions to be unworthy: 
and that same popular sentiment will come down upon any court or any 
committee that does violence to good reason. 

I am in favor of a registry law, but let us have no change which does 
violence to any, but only such as will protect all. I believe you are 
gradually, step by step, reaching that result. 

Now, so much for the process of purgation. My plan is, as I have 
stated it, purge, strike out. I say to you, that Mr. Hagert, in his analysis 
that he gave you this morning, designates exactly the legal votes according 
to that analysis, and he furnishes you with an accurate means of ascer- 
taining exactly the legal number of votes. When he furnishes you with 



152 

the analysis for the purpose of demolishing that theory, he furnishes you 
with the means of deciphering the return, and therefore demolishes his 
own. 

Then I apprehend that polls won't go out. Oh, well, stop ! I will just 
lop off that return. I will blot it out. I won't regard that return at all. 
Very well. Suppose there is no return. If you regard it as no return, 
what can you do ? Open these boxes and count the votes. You have 
done that, and you say that some of the votes in there are fraudulent. 
Prove the fraud ; for the law presumes the officers did their duty, and the 
fraud is not to be carried one step beyond the proof. Fraud is never to 
be presumed, but proved, and because of the difficulty in proving it, every 
latitude is given, and every avenue which sheds light upon it is open to 
the inquirer to show the fraud, and when inquiry fails, you must take the 
result, whatever it may be. 

Nowhere has he proven fraud in these divisions not assailed specifically. 
That is for the purpose of getting you to throw out a suflBcient number 
of returns of polls to allow Mr. McClure to be elected. You cannot elect 
him unless you throw out seven or eight. Understand me, you have got 
to throw out seven or eight divisions before Mr. McClure can get his seat, 
and triumph over the majority that has been given for Mr. Gray. Under 
my process, Mr. Gray will be elected by upwards of 600, and then I 
deduct every vote that my friends have proved to be illegal, and I retain 
the balance, because they are not affected or tainted by suspicion of fraud. 
I argued before dinner my conception of the law with regard to an election 
officer. I will just repeat it. His fraud may render himself liable to 
punishment. If he fixes things so that you cannot decipher, you may 
reject the poll, not because of his fraud, but because of your inability to 
decipher. It may not be tainted with fraud at all. It may be a result 
flowing from an innocent action of the officer. It is precisely the same 
as if a four-year old child were to get hold of the tickets and empty them 
into a bag with the unvoted tickets. It is not a fraud which justifies you 
in rejecting the poll. It is your inability to decipher the return. There- 
fore I say to you. that under no circumstances can you reject a poll. I 
respectfully submit— argumentary only: I do not mean to be imperious 
or domineering — that, under no circumstances, can you reject a poll 
because of the fraud of the officer, or the fraud of a voter. This theory 
set up by Mr. Hagert, that fraud vitiates everything it touches, is so on a 
general principle. It is so as to the deed he spoke of. If I alter 
my deed with reference to the boundaries in question, that affects 
me because I am the guilty actor. But where there is a community 
of interest, such as is the case with votes all collected into a single box, 
the action of one bad man cannot affect any other members of the com- 
munity. Therefore the doctrine must be to restrain the action to the illegal 
actor; throw his vote out and nobody's else. It is not Col. McClure or 



153 

Col. Gray. They are only the parties to this contest. It is every voter 
in the Fourth Senatorial district of Pennsylvania. These men are of small 
account in the law, except as p\iblic interest regards them as public agents. 
But the great principle of law is to obey the majoiity, and not to give the 
seat to Col. McClure because he, by the process of confusion, or of superior 
orgHnization, happens to throw a little more confusion over it, and there- 
fore gives a little more trouble to analyze. Confine the investigation to 
the analysis. Sift, search, prove, disprove, reject, separate the true from 
the untrue, and declare the true. 

What is to be done with these personations ? Mr. Hagert says " they 
are to be charged to you." Now, then, I will bejust as argumentative on this 
point as on any other. Where a person illegally votes for a given candi- 
date, and that can be ascertained, of course that is to be charged against 
the man for whom the vote was cast. But where you do not know how a 
person cast his vote, it has got to be deducted from the poll. I read again 
from the same book in McDaniel's case, page 249, the syllabus is page 
238, " To reject an illegal vote it must appear for whom it was polled. It 
cannot be taken from the majority." And in the body of the opinion the 
same ground is recited " where an individual did not know for whom he 
voted." Here was a case that depended on one vote. How was that case 
to be decided because it was not known how the man voted ? Why his 
vote was deducted, not from the vote of a candidate, but from the poll, 
and that left the man in his seat. That doctrine was carried out still further, 
and I will read again with your permission. " In purging the poll, illegal 
votes are to be deducted from the entire vote, and not from the majority," 
page 558, Gibbons vs. Shepperd. 

Mr. Hagert presents no other alternative, no other theory to you. I 
cannot conceive of any contingency in which the application of this theory 
can be presented, except where a poll is so mixed and confused that it is 
utterly impossible for you to count it, and then you will have to throw it 
out ; as, for example, where a four year old child totters into the room, 
seizes the tickets lying in the room and empties them into the ballot box. 
There you cannot decide; there the poll will have to go out. But when 
the process of purgation is used, by either showing the legal vote or by 
proving the illegal vote, then you have got the right means of ascertaining 
the justice of the case. Mr. Hagert says reject the poll, or says reject the 
return, which, as I have already shown you, is a distinction without a 
difference, and remit us to the privilege of counting our votes. Well now, 
gentlemen, I ask you to look at the ridiculous nonsense and absurdity of 
that thing. It cannot be done in the fourth senatorial district during the 
whole term. Count the vote, and he says " we have counted it in some 
divisions, and counted as high up as twenty; if that is not the whole vote, 
let Mr. Biiggs show it by bringing up every other voter." That is turn- 
ing things around with a vengeance. I stand upon the return. It is 



154 

mine. You impeach and the labor is on you, and when your labor ceases 
1 will rebut it; but until you do I will stand upon the presumption the 
law gives me. I speak as a lawyer to law/ers. 

He has proved in the loth division of the 20th ward, 126. He is credited 
with 108. 211 were given for Mr. Gray. That and 108 are 319. Out of 
319 he proves 108, and he says I have received every vote in the district, 
unless Mr. Briggs proves that the balance of them are cast for some one 
else. Can that be maintained? Is it tenable in reason? Does it find 
lodgment in the judgment of any sensible man ? Does it not convince you 
and every rational man that it proves simply that so many votes out of a 
number of voters were cast for that man, and does not prove or imply that 
votes were not cast for another man ? You remit us back to the process 
of proving the balance of the votas, what then? Col. McClure said he 
wanted five days. I told you I could not meet the demand upon me in 
the eight days given me. T told you I could not do it. Why, you know I 
have not proved them. You know it as well as if you had counted every 
vote in the district. Y"et the limitation is put down upon me on that 
theoi'y, that they had limited me as to time, and when the stroke of the 
clock strikes the hour we will shut down the time, knowing that one-half 
of the vote is not in, leaving it to the wisdom of the Senators of the Com- 
monwealth to see that justice is done. Justice has not been done! Can 
you resolve yourselves back to the citizenship that is in you, and say to 
your neighbors, justice is done? Can you say it, when out of the 20,000 
votes in this district, 2,000 are proven? That is Mr. Hagert's justice, 
and such justice would strike at the basis of our institutions and turn into 
disorder and revolution the order which we respect. You throw out the 
polls to the extent to elect McClure without giving me time to count the 
vote, and you work a greater injustice than do the men who tamper with 
the ballot box ; of one we expect nothing, of honorable Senators we expect 
more. 

That virtually ends the argument, except reading an extract from the 
testimony. Mr. Hagert, for some purpose not relative to the issue, has 
read some of the testimony. Repeaters! Why we have them in abund- 
ance. There is not a jot of difference between a democrat and a republican 
repeater. They would sap the very foundations of our government and 
destroy the fabric of our free institutions without hesitation. Who is a 
repeater ? He is not a democrat or a republican. He is a repeater, a 
scoundrel of the deepest dye who should be hung to the nearest lamp post, 
for a man who thus strikes at the institutions of our country is infinitely 
more of a scoundrel than a man who risks his own life while taking that 
of his fellow man. The one does it by stealth and runs no risk, or if he 
goes to prison for it, his character is such that the incarceration does not 
taint him. There is no difference between a repeater on one side and a 
repeater on the other. They are simply repeaters, nothing else. 



o 



155 

I will read j-ou, in rebuttal of the attacks made by Mr. Hagert, a few- 
instances of testimony. I said I had met everything in rebuttal except one 
or two divisions, and I would have met them if I had time. Mr. Cassidy 
will say that you have not done it, but you know just as well as you know 
you draw the free air of heaven that you shut down the limit of time and 
prevented me from doing it. 

On pages 412 and 413 of this printed testimony is the evidence of Wm. 
Douglass : 

"I was stationed in that district to look up the suspicious places of 
lager beer dealers. I was on Tenth street, by the Tenth and Eleventh 
street depot. I saw a man that I came across in the lager beer saloon, 
and this man met four ex-police officers, which I recognized as being in 
the Seventeenth District and the Second District. I do not know the 
gentlemen's names, but I have seen them there in that district. This man 
that ran over to them was Dugan. I saw him give evidence against Tim 
Riley in Alderman Colgan's office. He gave them tickets. They says to 
him, ' We want McUlure tickets;' and he .gave them to them, and says, 
' Now is your time,' and pushed them on the back, and says, 'Go up.' 
Thinks 1, I will just see what they do, and I went up behind them. They 
got into line, and went through the I'cgular routine. I did not see which 
names which voted on, because I paid no attention to the question of resi- 
dence. They got in their votes and walked ofi", and walked off down 
Tenth street. I walked down Tenth street after them. They went from 
there down, and, I believe, they went to their divisions. This Dugan is 
the man I recognized as giving them the tickets, and I mentioned it to him 
in the Alderman's office when he swore against Tim Riley. Ilis testimony 
was that he was an inside officer, and I says, 'Are you an inside officer?' 
and he says, ' Part of the time ;' I says, ' Part of the time ? I knew you 
could not have been inside, because I saw you give those men tickets, and 
send them up to vote.' 

" Q. Where did these men, whom you saw get into line, live ? 

"A. In the First or Second Ward. 

''Q. You knew them? 

" A. Yes, sir. I do not know their names, but I could recognize them 
if I saw them. I know they were in the Seventeenth District and the 
Second District, and that is the part of the town where I live. 

" Q. What did you see at Metzger's, at Eleventh and Girard avenue? 

"A. I saw a party of men from the First, Second and Fourth Wards. 

" Q. How many were there in that company? 

"A. I suppose eight or ten. They invited me to drink with them. 

" Q. Did they vote ? 

"A. I could not say whether they voted or not. 

" Q. Did they go to the polls ? 



156 

" A. They went to the polls, and another man by the name of Carter 
asked me to drink. 

"Q. Did Carter vote ? 

" A. I could not swear to that fact. 

" Q. Did you see him in the line going up ? 

"A. I saw him in the line. 

" Q. How near did he get to the windovr when you last saw him ? 

" A. Three or four were before him approaching the poll. When I took 
my eyes off him, he was still in the line, approaching the poll, with his 
ticket in his hand. 

'' Q. Who were these men ? 

" A. They were familiar faces, but I could not speak their names. 

" Q. Had they been officers? 

"A. Yes, sir, to Mayor Fox, living down town. Carter pointed out a 
man to me, named Sergeant Lynch. 

"Q. How many of these men were in this gang ? 

"A. I suppose eight or nine, as near as I could get at it. 

" Q. How many had voted ? 

" A. 1 suppose three or four. I don't think they were all in the line at 
once." 

That is not conti'adicted. With all their flourish of trumpets, with all 
their cry of shutting me off because they wanted to rebut, they did not con- 
tradict it. You gave them the opportunity, and they accepted it, but went 
no fuither. They had all their witnesses there, and they did not call them. 
I know that some of their witnesses were there and they did not call them. 

Henry C. Gladding, an officer on the Reserve Corps, also testified : 

"I was in the Fourth Sanatorial District. I arrived in the Fourth Di- 
vision of the Twenty-fifth Ward about half-past 11 o'clock, and I stayed 
there until half-past 5. 

" Q. Describe what you saw there ; speak of it in your own way. 

"A. When I arrived there, I saw Alderman McMuUm. He had a party 
of about fifteen or twenty. I know a great many of them. That was what 
took me up there. I knew a party was going up. Some of them belonged 
in the Third and some in the Fourth Ward. Some stands at Third and 
Monroe, and some stands at Fourth and Monroe. Robert Lister Smith 
had a gang of ten or fifteen. They belonged down town. 

"Q. To what political party did these people belong ? 

"A. To the Democratic party- I saw Johnny Ahern there. He drove 
over there about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I don't know that he had a 
party. I saw Constable Cunningham and Alderman Collins, who had a 
small squad there of about five or ten. 

" The headquarters of Alderman McMullin was at a lager beer saloon. 
He had it full of his backers all day. 

"Q. To what party did these men belong? 



157 

''A. To the Democratic party, or wherever they could get any money, I 
suppose. They were around the headquarters of Alderman McMullin all 
day. He took a b«ick room in a lager beer saloon, just above the polls. 
Bob Lister Smith and this Cunningham had their headquarters in the bar 
room. I noticed several times McMullin come out in a carriage, and the 
crowd would go somewhere else, into another saloon, and he get into his 
carriage and drive off. Shortly afterward there would ten, twenty, or 
maybe thirty men come past the Fourth Division and separate. We would 
not see them for about, I judge, ten or fifteen minutes, and the first thing 
I would see would be Alderman McMullin come back in the carriage, and 
he would not be long back before the same crowd would come up. Bob 
Lister's party did the same thing. He would drive away in his carriage, 
and the crowd would go away. When he came back, the crowd would 
come back. 

"Between the hours of half-past 12 and 2 o'clock, or half-past 2, some- 
where there, the first disturbance took place there. There was a man had 
a little liquor in him. He had a Gray ticket. It was open, and there was 
a large, tall man, about my height, standing alongside of him as he came 
up. There was talk and controversy about it, and he blackguarded him 
for voting for Gray, and he went up to put his ticket in. and he was 
mashed in the mouth. I turned around to an officer and said, ' I want to 
have that man arrested, and I will appear against him. ' Two officers came 
up in uniform, took hold of this chap, and when they took hold of him 
there was a rush made for the officers. I grabbed hold of him, and as I 
did this Mr. Ward grabbed hold of the same man, and when we got to the 
corner this man tripped Ward, and Ward fell under him. I held on to 
him, and a couple of other officers came, and we got him up. We took 
him up the street, and, going across the lot to the station-house, two or 
three parties attempted to take him away from us. There was some people 
there following us, and we took them in charge; and when we got to the 
station-house we found a blackjack on him. 

"There was a disturbance there the whole time until this arrest was 
made ; but after this arrest was made it was quiet until half-past 5. Then 
I called at the Sixth Division, and walked over to Alderman Devitt. 
" Q. Did you see any of these men in the line for voting ? 
«' A. I seen one or two, but most of them stopped when they came there, 
when they saw parties from down town who knew them. I saw ex- 
sergeant Martin. * I know him well, and worked in the Custom House 
along with him. 

"Q. Had Martin a gang with him? 

"A. He was hunting for the headquarters of Alderman McMullin." 
I have read these for the purpose of showing you that the evidence is not 
all on one side. Alderman McMullin, under my cross-examination, was 
very frank, and you will remember said that he got twenty men in line 



158 

from the wharf, and that the police officers made a charge upon them and 
drove them from the line, and that it cost him S200 out of his own pocket. 

"What was Alderman McMullin doing there? Electioneering. Is it 
not against the law of the State for me to go into your district and elec- 
tioneer ? Is it not against the law of the Commonwealth for me to be there 
electioneering ? Never was public interest more concentrated in any con- 
test than it was in this. We had a State Senate tied, 16 to 16. The man 
who would get in would be the pivotal man, on whose vote turned all the 
legislation of the Commonwealth. This great interest influenced all of us 
who took an interest in the elective franchise to take a special interest in 
this election in the Fourth Senatorial District on the 30th of January last. 
Hence I do not complain of Mr. McMullin, or Lister, or Ahern going' 
there. I complain of them because they went there for the purpose of 
interfering with the popular will. Again, look at the interest we had in 
the result of this election. You have the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 
you have the Congressional Apportionment Bill, and other vital matters 
before your body for action, and we are on the eve of an election in this 
Commonwealth for Congressmen. Governor, Justice of the Supreme Court, 
and on the eve, as well, of a presidential election. Such a concentration 
of public interest never has occurred before within the recollection of cer- 
tainly any man in this Senate chamber at any one time. Hence the great 
struggle in the Fourth Senatorial District, and why the people have become 
intensely excited and anxious with regard to this. 

Now, whether one of the alternatives of Mr. Hagert will change the 
result or not, I am not prepared to answer. I doubt very much whether 
Mr. Gray will be unseated by his process of purgation ; that is, striking 
out the poll, and counting the votes that have been proven by Mr. Gray 
and by jNIr. McOlure, unless you strike out whole divisions. He asks you 
simply, if I understand him aright, that because during some of the hours 
he got a return for twelve votes where he ought to have had fifteen, there- 
fore strike out the whole poll during the day ? That is an iron rule. If 
such a process of striking out is to be applied, why not strike out the hour 
in which Col. McClure received twelve and should have received fifteen, 
and when Mr. Gray got eighteen ? The striking out of one hour won't do 
much mischief, but if you let it infuse its virus forward and backward 
during the whole hours of the day it will do much mischief. I cannot 
conceive that seven honorable Senators will work out injustice in judg- 
ment such as that — that is, by striking out for one day a poll wherein 
mischief was done during one hour. Do not disfranchise every man that 
voted dui'ing the day, simply because three or four votes were taken in 
at that poll in one hour that should not have been received. 

Mr. Hagert closed with an allusion to the importance of this case that 
I heartily endorse. In conclusion, I cannot conceive of a higher or holier 
duty ever committed to man than has been committed to you. The eyes 



159 

of the Commonwealth as well as of the nation are on you. This case has 
become a subject of observation throughout the entire nation. It will 
enter largely into the campaign that is about opening, as your report may 
be one way or the other. I hope and trust that no considerations of that 
kind will influence you. It is an important case— one of greater magni- 
tude than has ever transpired in the State of Pennsylvania, except that 
one aUuded to the other evening by the chairman of the committee— the 
Buckshot War — and I doubt, in view of the different periods in which the 
cases occurred, whether it is not even greater than that. I shall commit 
this case to your hands. I have spoken to you my honest sentiment. I 
said at the commencement of this case that I never stood up in public, 
before a court or before a jury, and I will say it now before a committee, 
and utter that which I do not believe. 1 may be mistaken, but that which 
I say is my honest and my heartfelt opinions. I am very much obliged 
for the very kind attention with which you have listened to me, and the 
many courtesies I have received during the piogress of this trial. It is a 
source of gratification, that in the great and severe labor we have all 
passed through, covering so long a period, that nothing has occurred to 
disturb the current of good feeling that has prevailed from the beginning 
of the case. Gentlemen of the committee, I now commit the case, on ray 
part, to your consideration. 

Senator Mumma. — There is one little point on which I would like to 
have your views. In order to constitute a legal election, it must be held 
at the time and place designated by law, of course. I apprehend also by 
officers lawfully acting, at least by persons not legally disqualified. It has 
been proven that some persons were oiBcers subject to the disqualifications 
of law cited by Mr. Hagert, and I have no doubt he has correctly stated 
the law. Were these men so disqualified ? I would like to have your views 
on that point. 

Mr. Briggs.— My theory is this. If a vote is pure, the channel through 
which it passes will not aifect it. An officer de facto is an officer de jnre. 
Take, for instance, the Mayor of our city or the Judge of one of our Courts. 
If he sits there and receives the vote, a simple illegality on his part will 
not taint the ballot, if he did his duty. Hence, I submitted to the fact 
educed by my friend, Mr. Cassidy, in one of his cross-examinations. In 
one of the divisions the officers I showed were not sworn until 4 o'clock 
in the afternoon. That does not taint the ballot, because they were not 
all properly sworn. There the testimony showed that their proceedings 
during the entire day were regular in other respects. 

Mr. Cassidy. — They were legally elected and legally entitled. The 
question of Senator Mumma is, were those sitting legally qualified ? 

Senator Mumma. — Could any set of men come there and hold an election 
at the time and place designated by law, and make it legal, if otherwise' 
regular ? Do I understand you to go that far ? 



160 

Mr. Briggs.— T will go to that extent, that any man who sits in the 
place of an election officer, that discharges the duty of the official, that is 
guilty of nothing but an act of omission, if he does not interfere or taint 
the ballot, it does not matter whether he possesses there the appointment 
of law or interjects himself into the judgment seat. It does not make any 
diflFerence. The voter does not know that he is not an officer. The voter 
goes to the polls within the time and deposits his vote, and the man re- 
ceives it as if he was an officer, and he is an officer cle facto. Tliat very 
case was decided in one of these very cases which General White has re- 
ferred to. 

Mr. Cassidt. — I would like to have that case now. There is no doubt 
at all that there are decisions where a clerk, otherwise competent, or dis- 
qualified by reason of non-residence, or by reason of holding, possibly, 
some not very material office, went on to discharge his duties and dis- 
charged them fairly, and that such an act in no way tainted with fraud 
did not vitiate that poll. But there is no decision in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, or anywhere else, that declares that persons not qualified to hold 
an election, or rather persons prohibited by law from holding an election, 
can hold a legal election. On the contrary, from the time, in 1856, when 
Chief Justice Thompson decided the Mann-Oassidy case, to this day, there 
has been no exception to the general rule that police officers, custom house 
officers and government employees cannot hold a legal election. They are 
not qualified officers, and cannot be made so by any process unless they 
utterly abandon their places, and cannot be made so then unless by honor- 
able abandonment of their places. 

Senator Mumma. — There is another question I would like to understand, 
whether, if one or two would be thus disqualified, and the majority of 
them qualified officers, what effect would that have? 

Mr. Cassidt. — I would say for myself that if one officer merely was 
there without being qualified, and the election itself was otherwise con- 
ducted regularly, that that mere irregularity ought not to vitiate that poll. 
But if that officer was judge, and another officer prohibited by law acted 
as inspector, and another one prohibited by law acted as clerk, and I found 
all their proceedings equivocal, covered all over with fraud, I should say 
that election ought to be vitiated. 



CLOSmS ARGUMEITT FOR COITTESTAITT. 



BY LEWIS C. CASSIDY. 



Senators : — 

I have had the honor upon several occasions to appear in my profes- 
sional capacity before a committee of the Legislature of this Common- 
wealth, but in no case have I ever been so impressed with the importance 
and dignity of the interests involved as in this. The people of the 
Fourth Senatorial District of this State, without regard to political 
differences, are before you, demanding that you shall declare by your 
judgment, that elections shall be free and equah This is a case resting 
upon no doubtful evidence. It is based on no strained construction 
of the law. We do not charge, you will notice, mere irregularities in 
the conduct of the election in the Fourth Senatorial District; we do 
not charge mere commissions of fraudulent acts ; but we charge that the 
election was conducted in pursuance of a conspiracy to commit a fraud, 
and that the fraud culminated in giving the certificate to Henry W. Gray ; 
that the whole of this election in the Nineteenth Ward, in the Twentieth 
Ward, and in the Twenty-fifth Ward, was the result of a combination 
to cheat Mr. McClure out of his certificate. That the whole election 
was one vast fraud, and this I think I can demonstrate as clearly as 
ever a case was established in a court of justice. 

I do not mean in the course of this argument to complain, as my 
friend, Mr. Briggs, would seem to think, that persons collected money 
for party purposes, and that an ordinary party organization was carried 
on here. Nothing of the sort. But I claim, and I call your attention 
to the fact, that in a mere Senatorial election, in this single Senatorial 
District in the City of Philadelphia, in which no one was in any way 
interested, except the citizens of that district, the officials of the whole 
city were taxed to produce a fund for use in this district. The funds 
ordinarily procured for election purposes, as you all very well know, 
are raised to pay for printing tickets, for advertising in the public 
11 



162 

papers, for bill posters, and bands of music and public meetings, and 
matters of that sort. There was neither music, public meetings or any- 
thing of that kind in this Senatorial fight. There was not a public 
meeting held in the Fourth Senatorial District at the expense of the 
Eepublican organization, or of those claiming to be friendly to Mr. 
Gray. Not one. There were no advertisements that would amount to 
the dignity of ordinary political appeals. 

Such being the case, I wait for the counsel on the other side to tell us 
why at least ij^7,000 of money was put into that district by the friends of 
his client. My friend, Mr. Gray, repelled the idea of paying money to 
the persons in New York who were to come here and testify how 
they voted ; therefore it was not used for that purpose. It was not paid 
to the election officers who conducted the election, for by law the City 
of Philadelphia pays thein. It was not paid to the men who elec- 
tioneered upon the other side, because they generally belonged to those 
who held public office, and they received their salaries for that day. 
There is but one way left to account for the use of this money, and that 
is to pay the repeaters who, by the uncontradicted testimony before 
you, went into that district under the command of such leaders as 
Riley, Hollick, Souder, Stevenson and scores of others, whose names 
you have heard, and went from precinct to precinct through the Nine- 
teenth Ward, across to the Twentieth Ward, and back to the Twenty- 
fifth Ward. That they were there is beyond any sort of doubt. Did 
these gentlemen, belonging to the organization oi professional repeaters, 
do this thing for the public good? Are they so enamored of my friend, 
Mr. Gray, that they did it from affection for him? No, gentlemen^ 
they did it for a price, and part of this conspiracy was not only to 
raise the money, but to pay them for this not only dirty but criminal 
work. 

That these repeaters were in that district, and doing this vile work, 
our friends upon the other side have not denied. They pretend that 
some of them — they do not even allege all of them — that some of them> 
were there in our interest, and they named the fifteenth precinct of 
the Twentieth Ward, and Mr. Briggs goes through the ceremony 
of reading Mr. Douglass' testimony to establish this view. The 
testimony of Douglass, if it makes for anything, tells terribly against 
the sitting member; for, if they were there, and voted in the fifteenth 
precinct of the Twentieth Ward, they must have voted for Mr. Gray, 
inasmuch as we have produced before you every man who voted for 
Col. McClure, and the names of these repeaters are not among them. 
We produced more persons who established the fact that they voted for 
my client than the election officers selected by our opponents returned, 
And if Jno. Lynch, and Douglass and other repeaters were in that precinct, 
and voted, the proof is overwhelming, and the logic of the transaction 



163 

inevitable, tliat they voted for Col. Gray. I have no doubt that these par- 
ties were there. I have noi the shadow of a doubt that they voted ; and 
as we produced every man who voted for McClure, so that you saw him 
and knew where he lived, and knew his business, and ascertained that he 
was a qualitied voter, and our opponents could have at onoe contradicted 
it if there was any error, it cannot be said that Lynch and his friends 
voted for us, and if they did vote in that precinct, it was in pursuance, 
and part and parcel of the arrangement started by the organization that 
raised the money, and used it in the Fourth District to corrupt and 
pollute the ballot-box. 

It was not sufficient, gentlemen, to procure repeaters, and bring them 
to the polls to vote, it was necessary that the election officers of some 
at least of the precincts should be made to receive and count these 
votes. The election officers had been named before the October election, 
and therefore the men who were to conduct the election of January 
30th were well known. Those who had distinguished themselves as adepts 
in manipulating election returns, and holding elections in October, had 
received their reward, and hence it is that many of the officers of this 
election are found on the police, in the Navy Yard, Custom House and 
other places of public employment. What the corruption fund did not 
accomplish, power and place did. Notwithstanding the Act of 1839 
expressly prohibited persons holding these places from holding posi- 
tions as election officers, in pursuance of the conspiracy referred to by 
me, they remained inside as election officers, and carried on this farce 
called an election, and consummated the crime by unduly returning the 
sitting member. 

In ail the divisions where these repeaters are seen, I ask your atten- 
tion to the fact, that the election officers, or a majority of them, are the 
political or personal friends of the returned Senator, and I also invite 
■ your attention to the fact that repeaters are found in no precinct lohere 
Col. Me Olure's friends are in the majorlti/ in the election board. Is not 
that a pregnant fact in all this case? Our opp jnents would have you 
believe that in the fifteenth precinct of the Twentieth Ward, where the 
returns show 103 majority for Mr. Gray, that the friends of Col. McClure 
could go there to repeat, with police officer Haines, in citizen's clothes, 
with the window book, ononesideof the window, and officer Stamback, 
with his blackjack, on the other, and a Custom House official presiding 
inside, and this in the face, also, of the fact that the officers swore that 
they knew almost everybody in the precinct. To state these proposi- 
tions seems to me to answer them, and to put the whole matter at rest. 

But the parties who were concerned in this conspiracy were not con- 
tent with this general inside management of the election. They went 
further. Police officers thronged this district— not those of this police 
district. No, sir! But those sent from other districts, from the extreme 



164 



'■southern end of the City of Philadelphia, in citizens' clothes, to 
do what? To preserve the public peace? No! They were actively 
engaged, as testified by all parties, in electioneering, and no way in 
acting as officers, but solely as partisans, and instead of preserving the 
peace, actively engaged in disorder and violence. 

And here let me call your attention to the fact that this election, 
being a special election, and not subject to the control of the Eegistry 
Law, the Act of 1839 provided who should keep the polls clear; that if 
there be any excitement about the polls, the judge of the election, or 
the election officers, shall call upon the constables of the ward to clear 
the poll, and the constable is the officer appointed by law to be in 
attendance, and there are enough constables in a ward to do that. The 
police, as police, have nothing to do with it. On the contrary, there is 
a decision of our local court on the subject of these very police officers 
that requires them to stay, as police officers, at least sixty feet from the 
poll ; any attempt upon their part to come nearer to it, to interfere with 
it in any way, has been solemnly decided in our county to be a very grave 
misdemeanor. Yet these officers, in violation of that decision, and of the 
spirit of the law, that requires law officers to be in the neighborhood, 
perhaps, but to in no way interfere with the right to a fair election, these 
people were not preserving the peace, but obstructing the poll, intimidating 
honest voters, protecting the repeater, and arresting the citizen. Why 
the quietest of these police officers undertook to manage the outside 
of the polls in divisions where they were entire strangers. You 
remember the case of the precinct in the Twenty-seventh Ward, where 
Lieutenant Smith, from the Sixth Ward, several miles distant, without 
exhibiting the slightest authority, and without being called upon by 
anybody, removed a young citizen of the division from the line of voters. 
And again, one of his officers gets into a scuffle with a citizen of the 
division, almost at the window of the poll, and strikes him, in such . 
plain violation of law that when they arrested the citizen. Sergeant 
Sayres, as I remember the testimony, upon being appealed to by Mr. 
Euuis, a resident of the neighborhood, discharged the man, being unable 
to find cause for his detention. 

All through the day you have the testimony of similar conduct by 
policemen. You see officer Arnold voting up town in the name of 
Podesta. You see officer Stambach, who, when citizens came to vote 
and asked for a ticket for McClure, saw them assailed with black- 
jacks without interfering to protect them. All over the district you 
see the police active, not in preserving order, but in electioneering ; 
and wherever a difficulty is made, the citizen who is knocked down is 
taken to the station house, and the blackguard who strikes him per- 
mitted to go free; and that is called, in the City of Philadelphia, a free- 
man's right to exercise the elective franchise untrammeled and undis- 



165 

turbed. I do not go over this testimony, from precinct to precinct, to 
point out these things to you, but I say that in all these precincts there 
is the fullest evidence to show that the police officers were active par- 
ticipants in all the disgraceful proceedings at that election ; that those 
who were appointed, in the City of Philadelphia, to protect our lives 
and our liberties, were prominent as the law-breakers of that day. 

The men who conducted this election were selected under the Eegistry 
Law. You can readily see how this conspiracy could have been carried 
out when you remember that feet, because in selecting the officers to 
represent the minority, whether that was called upon this occasion the 
Democratic party, or those friendly to Col. McClure, or by any other 
name, those who were acting for the minority had not the confidence 
of that minority, and were not selected by them or those in sympathy 
with them. They were selected, as were all the officers of this elec- 
tion, by the political friends of the sitting Senator, some of them 
honest but ignorant of all knowledge as to their rights or duties, 
and vianij of them clearly dishonest. Do you remember the election 
officer, the old gentleman who told you he had been living in the 
precinct for twenty odd years, and that he protested against many things 
that the majority officers did, and that they told him it was all right, 
but who looked out of the window and found the police and repeaters 
knocking down his son and taking his window-book from him? Do 
you remember that this gentleman went to the station house and liber- 
ated this sou, only to find on his return to the polls that the police were 
taking another son to the station house, in order, of course, to keep the 
father away from the poll, so that, innocent as he was, and honest as he 
showed himself to be, he would be away from there and the poll would 
be absolutely in the hands of those who were friendly to Col. Gray, and 
in the absence of any one to represent Col. McClure, the papers and 
the ballots could be manipulated to suit them? An arrangement, "set 
up," to use a cant phrase, to induce the minority officers to leave the 
inside and let the majority manage as they pleased. This was the sys- 
tem adopted to manage a poll where the minority officers were dull 
but honest. 

Among the many remarkable features of the election is that of the 
sixth precinct of the Nineteenth Ward. The testimony shows that 
while four men of one political party were inside, five men quietly 
walked in and took out tlie ballot-box, and the ballots and all the pa- 
pers, and destroyed them; it was the quietest riot you ever heard of. 
There was no blow struck; there was no lock broken; there was no pane 
of glass fractured ; there was no force used or angry word uttered. The 
officers inside were friends of Mr. Gray, and the poll itself was within half 
a square of a station house, filled with police officers, organized, as the 



]f)6 

testimony in the case abundantly proves, and ready for any work against 
Col. McClure. Can this committee, under this state of affairs, have any 
doubt as to who really did this deed? Can there be a doubt that it was 
done by the friends of the sitting member, and directed in further pur- 
suance of that conspiracy to cheat Col. McClure, to which 1 have already 
referred, and upon which I have commented? It was part of tlie ar- 
rangement to pretend that the ofBcers were overcome ; that the ballot 
box was broken up and all the evidences of election were destroyed, so 
that they could come before an investigating committee and call a score 
of people unknown to the committee, and ask them, "who did you vote 
for on that day?" and so make a poll for them greater than they could 
make out for themselves at the regular place and at the regular election. 
And to do more. If there was to be a contest in this case, that they 
might have a set-off against the numerous evidences of corruption which 
they knew would be exposed. Four men, armed with the authority of 
the law to resist wrong-doers, within half a square of a police station 
house, to sit quietly by and allow five unarmed men to walk in and take 
away their boxes! No, it is not likely, and our friend, Mr. Briggs, does 
not know the Nineteenth Ward managers if he thinks it possible. He 
does not know the gangs that have become famous in this locality. 
They have figured in various scenes that I have professional knowiedge 
of, and they are not men to allow such a procedure while they look 
quietly on. They have distinguished themselves in various grades of 
crime in our city, from that which was tainted with blood to that which 
corrupts the ballot-box. 

Tliis is a contest between the honest, law-abiding people of the dis- 
trict and the corrupt, disorderly and disgraceful organization of rings 
in the City of Philadelphia, that have made it secondary to New York 
a by-word through the country. It is an effort upon the part of the 
Republican decent people and the Democratic decent people, like to 
that in New York, to put down the rings of the City of Philadelphia, 
whether they be police, or gas, or water, or any other corrupt combina- 
tion to cheat the people ; and no greater step has ever been taken toward 
accomplishing the high purpose of relieving the people of this incubus 
that is upon them, and has been upon them for years, than was taken in 
the brave course adopted by Col. McClure in his almost single-handed 
and gallant fight for the Senate. My friend, Mr. Briggs, in the course 
of his speech, alluded to a power in Philadelphia greater than the city. 
I do not exactly know to what or to whom he alludes, but I can tell 
him that in my experience brains and pluck against corruption and 
knavery make the honest one a majority. That McClure had these 
qualities none can deny, and none, I believe, when this contest is over, 
will more cordially agree with me in saying that he is entitled to the 



167 

unbounded confidence and respect of all decent men for exposing to the 
Jigat of day this most infamous conspiracy to cheat the people, than Col. 
Henry W. Gray, the sitting member. 

Have we shown that this conspiracy was conceived? Yes! And we 
have shown who was in the combination; and we have shown that its 
purpose was to issue a certificate to a man who was not legally entitled 
to it. We have shown that they conrsummated the conspiracy. Accord- 
ing to the views of my friend, Mr. Briggs, tliere is no remedy for this. 
Unless I can show in person the number of fraudulent votes that will 
overcome Mr. Gray's forged and fraudulent certificate, I can do nothing. 
Is the law so impotent as that? My friend, in support of this doctrine, 
quotes the Dechert case, and appears in the certainly new role, to him, 
of an advocate of that decision. I thought, as I heard him address this 
committee, that I could see on the face of the Senator from Indiana, 
astonishment that one pretending to hold his political views, should 
advocate the view of the Dechert case presented by Mr, Briggs. It 
■mounded strangely, I should think, to the ears of Republican Senators, 
coming from a gentleman I am sure we have been taught for many 
years to look upon as a leader of the Republican party in the City of 
Philadelphia, and with which party the Dechert case is certainly most 
odious- 

I trust I will be able to demonstrate that the law in the Dechert case 
in no way conflicts with the position of the contestant, and in passing I 
congratulate my friend, Mr. Briggs, upon his position. I know of no 
greater evidence of the progress of political enlightenment than his 
endorsement of that opinion. I congratulate him upon arriving at the 
conclusion for the adoption of which I have been contending from the 
memorable case that you all know, in 1856, down to the present time. 
The very doctrine that my friend denounces here in such eloquent and 
forcible terms, I felt the force of in the Mann and Cassidy case; for in 
that case, upon that very ground, the decision went against me in which 
my opponent succeeded in obtaining the office. I have, therefore, a 
personal as well as professional feeling against that doctrine. Before 
proceeding to discuss the purely legal position of our case, I would like 
to reply to many matters introduced by our opponents in the course of 
the argument, to attract attention from the main point of the case, and 
partly to mystify the course of investigation. 

Among other things my friend, I think, stated that wherever we had 
jittacked a precinct, he had squarely met the issue and answered it. 
Will he point to the page iu which can be found the testimony of Aid. 
Lutz, or, as I suppose I ought to call him in this case. Doctor Lutz? I 
have no recollection of hearing him examined; yet, if I remember the 
lestimony correctly, Lutz, who was at the time of this election and is 



168 

now an alderman in the lower part of the City of Philadelphia, upon 
the side my friend says he belongs to, the Eepublican side, was 
figuring conspicuously in the opposite portion of the town, the Fourth 
Senatorial District, as the head of a band of repeaters in the. interest 
of Col. Gray, and so anxious about his title that he was desirous 
that his friends should call him Doctor, Perhaps the recent Sena- 
torial investigations would induce that gentleman, if he had the 
opportunity now, to ask his friends to call him Eeverend. It does 
not follow that because he was called a Doctor, it may mean a Doctor of 
Medicine. It might very well mean a Doctor of Election Polh, which 
profession he was certainly engaged in. But Aid. Lutz was not the 
only gentleman who escaped the notice of my friend, Mr. Briggs. I 
invite his attention to quite a number of persons whom I would like to 
hear from, or his explanation for not calling them. 

It would have been very satisfactory to hear from Albert Fields, who 
occupies a position under the Eegister of Wills of Philadelphia. 

Then there is that virtuous citizen, Joe. Ash, connected with the High- 
way Department, and that very respectable gentleman, known in the 
criminal court as Dan Eedding. Also, Mr, Hollick, connected with the 
Custom House or the Gas Works, who had charge of a band of repeaters. 
Then Mr. Stotzenberg, a police officer, who thought his highest duty 
that day was to impress his responsibility upon the heads of people 
who differed with him by a blackjack. Then there is Mr. Stambach, 
whose occupation was in the same line of police duty, and Mr. Deputy 
Coroner Sees. He was in attendance. I saw his very good-looking 
face several times while this investigation was going on, and I thought 
before it was finished, my friend would give me a chance of examin- 
ing how many, and by what authority he issued the tax receipts 
he gave in Miller's tavern that day. You will remember that he took 
a person, who had no tax receipt, into a public house, and when he 
came out he not only had a tax receipt, but a voucher, and voted. 

And then will my friend tell me where he examined Alderman Smith. 
There was no difficulty about finding him. It is not John, but a well- 
known official, who is charged, directly upon oath, with attempting to 
corrupt the election officers. It was not only due to the case that this 
witness should be called, but it was due to the character of the minor 
judiciary of Philadelphia. But the failure to call was wise. The 
truth would have been overwhelming and certain defeat. 

Among the names connected prominently with the fraud, there is one 
which attracted some attention in the City of Philadelphia— Mr. Eitten- 
house, Assistant Commissioner of Highways. He was charged by a 
citizen, with detail of time and place, with attempting to corrupt the 
ballot-box. That gentleman was, all the time that you were sitting in 



169 

the City of Philadelphia, a resident and official of that city, within two 
squares of your place of meeting. Why was not he called to contradict 
the assertion, made on oath, that he had corrupted the ballot-box? It 
has been stated by his friends openly in Philadelphia that this charge 
was false, yet there never was as grand a chance for a man to clear his 
skirts of a dirty and damnable taint upon it, as there was when the 
occasion offered of putting him on the witness stand, and letting him, 
in the presence of Almighty God, state whether it was true or not. Am 
I not authorized by this omission to state he knows that it is true. He 
knows by the oaths of these men, charging him with that offence upon 
that day, that it is true, and to the discredit of our jury system, be it said, 
he is to-day unwhipped of justice. 

Gentlemen, you perceive by this that my friend is mistaken when he 
undertakes to tell you that he has answered our case. No, my friend, 
you have answered none of it! You have answered none of it! Shack- 
ling as my friend and colleague, Mr. Hagert, said your defence was, 
rickety and doubtful, you could have produced at least a portion 
of the persons whose names and residences we have furnished you 
as actively engaged in this fraud. You have neither brought them 
forward nor offered an excuse for their non-appearance. They could 
contradict our assertion if it was not true, and they dare not commit 
perjury. This failure to call known and obtainable witnesses is by 
every rule of evidence strongly corroborative of our case. 

Gentlemen, I call to your attention another matter which our 
friends on the other side will be unable to deny, and that is, that all 
through this case the sitting member has not pretended to assail, upon 
the ground of fraud, a solitary precinct that gave Col. McClure a 
majority. I wait to be pointed to a solitary precinct in all that 
Senatorial District that Col. McClure carried, that has been assailed 
upon the ground of fraud. I would like you, on the other hand, 
to jyoint me out a solitary precinct in the district that Col. Gray carried, 
that ive have not assailed tvith fraud. There is not a precinct in the 
district that Col. Gray carried, that we cannot point out evidence of 
fraud. There is not a precinct in the district that Col. McClure car- 
ried, that you can put your finger upon anything wrong. These facts 
ought to settle this case. Even in the precinct where the officers were 
not sworn until four o'clock in the afternoon, my friend does not pre- 
tend that anything wrong was done, an illegal vote taken, or a mistake 
in the count of a figure. In the Twenty-first Ward where, you may 
remember, another one of these distinguished membei'S of the minor 
judiciary. Alderman somebody, I have forgotten his name, did not swear 
all the parties, but where he only swore the judge, and told a blunder- 
ing officer to fill out the papers, and he did so, including the name of 
the alderman, thinking he had the right to sign that too. Even in that 



170 

election division there is no mistake in the vote; there is no pretence 
that an illei^al vote was polled, or a fraud of any kind committed. 

The Twenty-third Ward is assailed in the answer, yet not a scintilla 
of i^roof produced upon the subject; so that, after all, this fight narrows 
down to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Wards, and part of the Tweny- 
fift'i Ward, except a few precincts of the Twenty-seventh Ward, and all 
of these are precincts where Col. Gray had a majority of the election offi- 
cers. The real defence, gentlemen, is, however, presented in that part of 
the argument, there being none of any kind in the evidence, which asserts 
that you can-iot throw out entire polls, and that as you cannot throw out 
polls, the sitting member is in no danger. Well, gentlemen, there are 
some of the members of this committee who, I think, will be driven by 
the stress of what they will recognize as authority, both senatorial 
and judicial, to say that polls can be thrown out. From the day of 
Weaver against Given, and the number of cases that Mr. Briggs is 
familiar with, decided in the City of Philadelphia, down to the case of 
Wart and Diamond, which I had the honor to argue before a Senatorial 
C(»ramittee, this doctrine has been held both by the courts and the 
Legislature, and certainly a portion of the committee I have the honor 
of addressing, would be driven to recognize these decisions as binding 
authority. I might, therefore, stand upon that doctrine upon the ground 
that, though personally I do not think it right, it is the law of the land 
as settled by authority, and, therefore, binding my client, this committee 
and all citizens; but I prefer to put this case upon what my mind drives 
me to believe is the correct logical consequence of the position in which 
the evid 'Mce places this case. The citizen who claims his seat as Sena- 
tor, furnishes as the evidence thereof his certificate of election ; it is as 
valuable and sacred as the paper title under which he claims his house, 
and no more. If I show by competent evidence that the paper title under 
which the sitting member holds his seat or his house, is a forgery, he has 
no title at all. If I show by evidence that it was conceived in fraud and 
born in corruption, he has no title. It is as worthless a piece of pajier 
as if it was entirely blank. Therefore, when I come to investigate his 
title to his office, I look, not only to the certificate itself, but to the re- 
turns on which it is based, and in order to examine the chain of title to 
see whether it is perfect, I must examine the returns made for the differ- 
ent polls. To do this understandingly, we must look first to the law 
under which the election was held, see what was required by that law 
as to who should conduct the election, and how it should have been 
carried on. The election was held on the thirtieth of January last. 
The election law, known as the Eegistry Act, did not provide for the 
manner of conducting a sj)ecial election, and, therefore, this election 
was required to be held in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 
Assembly of 1839. Although the Registry law provided for the 



171 

appointment, in a given way, of the officers to conduct all elections 
within the year, it did not, in the case of a special election nccurring 
during that year, and not otherwise provided for, in any way dispense 
with the Act I have just quoted. This Act of Assemhiy, T beg to call 
your attention, prohibits police officers, and officers of either the State or 
general government, from serving as election officers, and of course no 
appointment of the Board of Aldermen of such persons would entitle 
thorn to act. Carrying in our minds this law, we find on a review of the 
testimony that a large majority of the officers conducting (his election 
in the fifteen assailed precincts, were by law disqualified, and coukl hold 
no election. They were to be treated precisely as if they were stran- 
gers. If Senator Mumma, and Senator White and myself were to go up 
i'lto these precincts and hold an election, the returns made by us would 
be quite as valid as if held by these men; and I do not suppose it would 
be for one moment supposed that we, or other strangers or disqualified 
persons, were competent to hold the election. The paper title is, there- 
fure, !t the very outset of the investigation, found to be fatally defective; 
but I go a little further to show you how valueless this title is. In these 
fifteen precincts, these intruders on the polls, did what they not only 
had no authority to do, hold the ])oll, but they held it, meaning under 
the color of law to cheat one of the parties to the contest, and that 
all the papers they returned to the office upon which this certificate 
issued ure false and fraudulent. 

To estal)lish this view, I take up the hourly return for the purpose of 
showing that, in the ivhole of thene. 15 precincts, m every one of them, there 
was gross fraud. I look at the hour of 1 1 o'clock, and I find five votes re- 
turned for Col. McClure ; and I produce before yon fifteen well-known citi- 
zens who voted during that very hour for McClure, and state the fact to 
you under oath. I cannot very well understand how this could have 
been a mistake, but it might have been. There might have been another 
hour involved with this, or a man might have put a wrong figure down, 
or put a figure in awrong place, or there might have been an error of 
calcuhition in which it might have been done, and I therefore take up 
the second hour in every case. In the second hour I find Col. ]\IcClure 
returned an nothing, and I produce eleven citizens who voted for him in that 
vry hour. I begin to doubt that this was an accident. I begin to 
think this must have been intentional. I begin to doubt the honesty of 
these officers, and I look/or a third tiour. In that hour I find two returned 
for Col. McClure, and I find and produce before the Committee eight who 
voted for Col. Mr.Clure in that very hour. Will the sitting Senator, in 
the face of this, argue to you that that was an houest election; that 
the men inside were doing their duty; that it was a mistake and not a 
fraud? Oh, no! They know and feel that this fraud cannot be 
denied. Then, what is to be done? Why, they say, " strike out the hour, 



172 

but do not disfranchise the honest citizens who voted." Strike out the 
hour! Would not that disfranchise the honest citizens who voted in 
that hour? Would not that be doing the very thing you have denounced 
in such eloquent terms, stating that you must not disfranchise the 
honest, law-abiding citizen who had nothing to do with the fraud? 
Why, if you strike out the hour instead of the poll it may, perhaps, not 
produce the same result in figures, but it is the same thing in principle. 
What else takes place in these precincts? We come now to look at 
some of the "little things'' as Mr. Briggs would call them. The 
election officers are disqualified by law, and they have committed a 
fraud in the hourly return. This would seem abundantly sufficient to 
stamp the whole matter as undue and false, but they have done more. 
The Act of 1839, under which they held that election, says that every 
man who comes to that poll to vote, whose name is not on the assessor's 
list, shall produce a voucher, who must be a qualified elector in that divi- 
sion, who shall state tmdcr oath that he knows the man to be a qualified 
elector in that division, and the election officers must write down on the 
list of voters the name of the voucher, so that if he has committed 
perjury he can be found and punished for his perjury ; and I say that there 
is not one case in all these assailed precincts where this laio ivas regarded. 
The law, too, states that where a citizen is challenged upon his right to 
vote upon the ground of tax, he must produce his tax receipt, or where 
he cannot produce his receipt and has paid his tax within two years, he 
may be qualified to that, and that fact must be written opposite his 
name. There is no instance of that. If he votes on age he must pro- 
duce the evidence of that, and that fact must go down on the record 
with the name of the voter on age, so that we can go beyond the voting 
lists and verify the vote cast on age if necessary. 

I do not yet stop. Challenges were disregarded when made by a citi- 
zen. In the language of ex- Alderman Sinex, who, until recently, was 
another distinguished member of the minor judiciary of the City of 
Philadelphia, and who presided at one of the polls of the Nineteenth 
Ward as the judge, and took the vote of a man who called himself Orton, 
the real Orton being a citizen who lived within two doors of this judge's 
residence, and whom he well knew, said, " we don't have any challenges 
at a Senatorial election," — an assertion that, if not sound in law or morals, 
had, at least, the credit, so far as this election was concerned, of being 
true. In some of the polls they were more prudent than Alderman 
Sinex, or wiser, if you will. They didn't announce the startling pro- 
position that there was no challenging in a Senatorial election, but 
they did not mind anybody who did challenge, or investigate any that 
was made. 

And so I might go on and detail other matters; but as they will 



173 

readily jiresent themselves to you, I content myself with pointing these 
out, and averring that no item of the Act of 1839 ivas complied loith in 
any one of these precincts, and that, therefore, as to the conduct inside 
the election polls, these returns were fraudulent and false, and not such 
as you or any tribunal could build a certificate upon, or found a paper 
title worth talking about. But what is to be said about it when I put 
before you hosts of witnesses to prove the most glaring, impudent and 
oulrarjeous frauds, outside of and through the windows of every one 
of these polls, ever perpetrated in a community. You, gentlemen, 
did not perhaps understand why we adojited a different course of 
things in some precincts. In the twentieth and the eighth divisions 
of the Nineteenth Ward, and in certain other precincts, we went specifi- 
cally through every hour of the day, and showed to you exactly the 
state of aftairs. You will remember, when you gave us permission to go 
on, our time before you was limited to a certain number of days, and I 
think you will give us the credit to say that when we were before you 
we were diligent in our work. There never was a day when we were 
not ready with a sufficient number of witnesses to occupy all the time 
of the different sessions of the Committee. We early perceived that 
this contest would be made a battle of time, and if we took up each 
of the 15 [precincts to go through them, hour by hour, as we did in 
these particular precincts, the time for the adjournment of the Senate 
would be at hand, and some of your terms would expire, and the 
examination would be still unfinished. Under that view of the case 
we adopted a different line. Having shown that certain precincts 
were corrupted, hour by hour, all the way through, by a certain 
character of fraud, that is, by repeating, by 2)ersonating, by neglect of the 
election officers to comply with the law, by having election officers who 
were not qualified inside, by police officers on the outside, by riotous and 
tumultuous disturbances at the polls, we took up several hours in each 
of the other precincts to show that the same general character of fraud 
and disorder extended through them also. We said we will take up 
each precinct and go through two or three hours in the day with each 
precinct, and if we can show to this Committee the same character of 
fraud that we have so abundantly established in the other precincts, we 
will have the right to stand before them and say : " Gentlemen, of course, 
if these other precincts were contaminated in the same way as those 
which we have specifically reviewed, you can pay no respect to these 
returns." If you will follow that view, you will find in every one of these 
precincts, amounting to more than 15, that we have assailed the integrity 
of all the polls by the same character of fraud that we have exposed in 
the eighth division of the Nineteenth Ward, and in the twentieth divi- 
sion of the Nineteenth Ward, and that other evidence warrants the 

belief that it extended throughout the district. 
\ ° 



174 

Let us instance the case oi repeating. You remember the Nineteenth 
and the Twentieth Wards join. It is the easiest thing in the world tor 
a man to enter the Nineteenth Ward at one corner, vote at the first pre- 
cinct, walk to the next precinct, follow to the next precinct, follow on 
to tlie next, and so on through the Ward; cross to the Twentieth Ward 
and then back, and up to the Twenty-fifth Ward, and repeat again, and 
so on all around the circuit. These gangs of repeaters are seen with 
the same leaders that day going their rounds in all jsarts of these three 
Wards, and whertver we have Jound fraud and wrong at all, we have found 
he presence and track of this very set of men, 

ir, tueu, 1 have stiown you that these returns were made in the way I 
have pointed out to you, then upon what earthly principle, either of 
law or justice, can you undertake to say that they are honest and true 
returns? If they are not, then you must within the Act of Assembly 
consider them false returns. If they are false returns, the certificate 
based upon them is false, and is not made according to law — a return 
covered with fraud, and therefore not to have the validity of a true 
return. What, then, is to be done? After we have produced the evi- 
dence to show that your election was fraudulent, that the return is laise, 
that the items upon which it is made up are a mass of falsehood and not 
entitled to credit, what is to be done? Why, if you, the sitting Sena- 
tor, claim this seat, after showing this state of affairs, the burthen of 
proof is put upon you, and you must show the honest vote by which you 
claim to hold this place. This course requires the sitting member simply 
to call the honest men who voted for him, and show he was the man 
whom they desired to occupy the seat in the Senate. As Justice Thomp- 
son — not the Chief Justice, but the presiding judge in the Common 
Pleas, in the case of Mann and Cassidy — said it is no hardship to require 
a man who claims a seat to show his perfect title. He must take the risk 
of a good title, and he must show us he has a title in some other way, 
when the usual one fails, and we will give him the right to show his 
vote. That has been followed by Judge Allison since, in a distinct 
recognition of that doctrine. He differed from his colleagues in one of 
the cases, in which he said : " I am for sending this case back to the 
Examiner. As we are going to throw this return out, I want the holder 
of the certificate to have the right and opportunity to prove his vote." 

Senator Buckalew. — They were in favor of throwing the returns out? 

Mr. Cassidy.— They went further. They, that is a majority of the 
judges, were in favor of throwing the polls out, that is, disregarding 
the election, and he differed from them. Therefore, what the Com- 
mittee could say to Col. Gray would be, "now, as your paper title has 
failed, proceed with your testimony to show you have any title," Test 
him by that, and what has he done? The counsel for the sitting Sena- 
tor aaw this pinch and did his best to meet it, and almost all the time 



175 

occupied by him has been in the effort to prove the actual vote of 
Coi. Gray. Examined by the testimony on this subject, what becomes 
of Col. Gray? Col. McClure would have at least 400 majority, but I 
contend that the paper title being out of the case, and as it appear.-, by 
the evidence that there were but two candidates before the people, that 
where Col. Gray avers he received 100 votes, and he proves but 60, 
and it is shown that the remaining forty votes were polled, thac the 
remainder of the 100 votes polled must necessarily have been for his 
only opponent. Col. McClure. I trust I make myself understood about 
this matter: that if Col. Gray undertakes to prove his vote before this 
Committee, sitting as an election board, and if the Committee know 
from the evidence before them that there were 150 votes registered and 
cast in that precinct, and Col. Gray produced but 70, the balance of that 
vote belongs to Col. McClure, the only other candidate. Is there any- 
thing illogical or unfair in that proposition? The proof is before you 
that a given number of people voted. The list of voters, persons quali- 
fied and entitled to vote, is in evidence before you. He has produced 
in one precinct 60 for himself, and can produce no others; every other 
vote cast in that precinct belongs to Alex. K. McClure, and is to be 
counted in making up that return for Alex. K. McClure, and that 
would make Col. McClure's majority in this district over 1,300 ; and 
while any assertion of mine is, of course, to be taken not as evidence, 
T have no more doubt that that is less than his lawful majority than T 
have that I am addressing you upon an investigation into the grossest 
fraud ever perpetrated on the people. 

My friend, Mr. Briggs, thinks that it would be a very hard case that 
because a few illegal votes were put into the poll by bad and designing 
men, and some few irregularities were found, that the poll should be 
thrown out. But what does he call a few, and what are irregularities? 
I have seen so many people hovering arotmd my friend during this 
case whose names are tainted with fraud, that I begin to fear possibly it 
had spread itself all over the neighborhood until even the pure and the 
upright have become demoralized with its taint — for without this I do 
not understand him. When you go into the 15 precincts, and you can 
establish that 300 fraudulent votes were put in the boxes, even in the 
short time allotted to us, I trust my friend won't do himself the injustice 
of talking about a fe,vo illegal votes. I trust also, then, that when we 
point that out to him, and he finds that these votes were polled in pre- 
cincts that were in the hands of police officers, custom house people, 
post office people and navy yard officials, who did not regard their oaths 
of office, some of whom did not even take the oath of office, he will 
think that these officers are included in his category of bad and design- 
ing men. I wish he had told us, especially in view of a matter wh.ch I 
have reason to believe will take place in a few hours, and \vnxi.h would 



176 

give his answer the sanction of judicial authority, exactly what he 
would do under such circumstances. How would he punish, if on the 
bench, such bad and designing men, and, if he would not adopt our 
remedy for this wrong, how would he punish the fraud when you can 
furnish the evidence of the amount but cannot furnish the evidence of 
all the names? Is a poll like that, a return so false, forged and fraudu- 
lent, to be considered as of the same sanctity as a return issued by honor- 
able gentlemen like the Senators I now address? Why, if that is true, 
w^hat becomes of character and reputation, and all that makes life dear 
in a community? Is the act of a scoundrel, a vagabond and falsifier as 
good evidence to furnish title to office as the certificate of Senator 
Buckalew or Mr. Briggs? Surely the law is not so impotent. The law 
does not disgrace itself by any such proposition. 

Personations are to be stricken out from the total result, is the next 
view of the sitting member; I do not dispute that proi^osition. Perso- 
nations, where you are unable to identify them, where they are mere 
personations, of course, come from the total, as being votes illegally cast 
that you cannot take from either party, because you do not show for 
whom cast. But it is otherwise when I show, as in this case, that the 
vote was cast for Col. Gray. In every precinct where I have proved a 
personation I have proved the vote of Col. McClure, produced the citi- 
zen, that you might see him, let you know where he lived, and for whom 
he voted, and then I proved that these personations were not among 
them — the persons who appeared before you, testified they voted for 
McClure, and in every instance we produced more votes for our side 
than were returned as polled; and as there was no other person to vote 
for, they must have gone to Col. Gray. Is there any mystery about 
this, because my friend has said this seriously as if there was? I trust 
there is none in the minds of the intelligent men I address; for if 
there are 7 votes only returned for Col. McClure in a given hour in anj' 
one precinct, and these 7 gentlemen I now address live in that pre- 
cinct, and they voted for Col. McClure in that given hour, and I call 
them and prove their votes, I prove their names and their residences; 
and if in that very hour there are 10 other people who voted who had 
no right to vote, it cannot be said truthfully that they voted for 
McClure. 

" Well, but if there is a little fraud here and a little fraud there," says 
my friend, " it does not vitiate anything." Yes it does vitiate everything 
it is connected with. The paper upon which the result depends is a 
whole. It is a certificate, and that certificate is based on a number of 
calculations. If that certificate, in any of its calculations, is false, the 
certificate itself is valueless. If that certificate is put down as repre- 
senting 150 votes, and I prove that 70 of them are false, how are you to 
count it at ail, because it cannot be argued that if I find 70 false that the 



177 

other 80 must be honest? On the contrary, I say that the presumption 
is, that if 50 of them are false it taints all, and those who say the 
balance are honest must show it. The presumption of law in favor of 
an election officer doing his duty exists so long only as I cease to attack 
it. The papers returned are prima facie evidence of title it is true, but 
if I attack the return, and, in my assault, destroy half on which it is 
founded, I take aioay from it its prima facie character, and that is exactly 
what I have done in every one of the assailed divisions, and have, there- 
fore, destroyed any value attaching to the return as prima facie valid. 

With this view of the law, the Dechert case is not only not against us, 
but authority in our behalf. 

I put this case on the broad, substantial, just doctrine held in the 
Dechert case, that where a retur7i is false, it is no evidence of anything, 
and therefore it is to be treated like a forged note, or a forged deed, 
and of no value to the party holding a seat under it. He must prove 
his title to his seat in some other legal manner. He may prove it by 
parole evidence. If he cannot prove it that is his misfortune, but it is 
but the position of any other person before the tribunals of the Com- 
monwealth. 

I might continue this line of argument; but I am reminded that you 
have been wearied by hearing the counsel talk most of this day, and 
night approaching admonishes me that I must bring my address to an 
end. There is much I might have said, and that I have not uttered, 
because, as I am talking to intelligent men, Senators and law-makers of 
the Commonwealth, I can afford to take less time than I could before 
other tribunals. I have gone over this case, doubtless, in a wearisome 
way, and at more length than I meant to; but I trust I have shown 
you that this return is false and fraudulent. I might take up this A nali/sis, 
one, by the way, of the most useful and intelligent I ever saw, made by 
my friend and colleague, Mr. A. W. Fletcher, to whom we are all. In many 
other matters in the case, largely indebted, and I could show you any- 
where, just as I do now, by taking up the tenth division of the Twenty- 
second Ward— a division entirely out of the 15 precincts heretofore 
referred to— and what do I find? I merely call your attention to one of 
the liftle things that shows the whole of the scheme of organization that 
existed all over that district that day. In this division John Briggs, a 
window inspector, saw the judge of the election take tickets out of his 
vest pocket and put them in the ballot-box, and take a corresponding 
number out of the box, and the judge refused to allow Mr. Briggs to 
remain at the window. This is the way they conducted the election. In 
this specimen of an honest precinct they did it by putting in votes that did 
not be'o)ig in the box, and by taking out votes thai did, and this is only a 
specimen brick of how it was done in other parts of the district. 
12 



178 

The same thing was done in the thirteenth division of the Twentieth 
Ward. Or take the tenth division of the Twentieth Ward, which is 
also a division not included in the fifteen, to which I have mainly 
directed my attention. There George Smith followed gangs of 
repeaters, led by custom house officer Kiley, gas officer Hollick, 
and custom house officer Souder; he saw them vote at that poll, and 
when the window-book man challenged them, they blackjacked him and 
left him insensible on the pavement, and pursued their round of repeat- 
ing through the district unmolested. In that precinct, also, Mr. Chas. 
H. Miller, the window-book man, was blackjacked, policemen assisting; 
and Mr. DuHadway, a respectable citizen, who called on an officer to 
arrest the men who had beaten Mr. Miller, was insulted. Now, gentle- 
men, that is a locality, one of the most reputable, perhaps, in the City 
of Philadelphia, so far as appearances are concerned, and in that precinct 
we had the advantage of the police, you perceive. Policemen, imme- 
diately upon a citizen undertaking to vote contrary to the police view, 
put him through a sort of blackjack exercise, and left him wounded on 
the ground. That is another instance of the freedom of elections in this 
district. I think my friend's stereotyped question to all the witnesses 
in this case was, whether the polls were not free to the voters. Certainly 
they were. There was not a man who wanted to vote for Oray, who did 
not get the chance to vote once, and two or three times if he ivanted to ; 
but the liberty ended there; the McClure man had no chance. 

In the third division of the Nineteenth Ward we have another speci- 
men of a free election. You remember a Mr. Wm. H. Holloway, who 
testified very intelligently, and who was the inspector of the election in 
this precinct, stated that a gang of repeaters came to vote, and one 
reached his hand through the window and stole a portion of the books ^ 
Mr. Holloway went outside to have him arrested, and was assaulted by 
policemen with blackjacks. Gentlemen, do you remember what saved 
that man's life that day? I trust you have not forgotten it, and lest 
you should, I will repeat it. This gentleman, who had lived in that 
precinct for twenty-odd years, had his book torn violently from him, 
and while in the act of appealing to the police officers, was surrounded 
by a gang of ruffians and beaten with blackjacks. Fortunately for him, 
early in the day, an alderman — I think it was one of the Crawfords — 
came in to see the election officers. He had a very handsome 
satin badge for Gray, and Mr. Holloway asked him for it and re- 
ceived it. He took it, and, without thinking any more about it, pinned it 
on the inside of his coat; but when he went outside to have those who 
assailed him arrested, and in the scuffle his coat flew open and the Gray 
badge appeared, when his assailants declared, "We have made a mistake, 
this is the wrong man ;" and thus the " Gray badge " saved his life. This 



179 

is a little piece of the history of the way in which elections are conducted 
in the City of Pliiladelphia generally, and a marked specimen of this 
Fourth District election. It is uncontradicted, and told by as reliable 
and truthful a man as any in the Senate of Pennsylvania, and by one 
who was spared to tell us only by the mere accident I have alluded to. 
Do you wonder that we get warm about these matters? Do you 
wonder that the people are aroused to a degree that I tell you is danger- 
ous any longer to trifle with? I tell you a little more of this fraud, or a 
hesitation now to assist in suppressing it, will arouse the people to 
take this matter in their own hands, and then woe be to the evil doer. 
If you fail to aid the people in their just demand for relief at your hands^ 
the people in their might will themselves see that justice is done. If 
the judgment of the courts, senatorial and judicial, are to be merely 
carried out in the enforcement of political orders, and if to argue a case 
before a committee means nothing but to ascertain its political com- 
plexion, and if in going into a court in the County of Philadelphia, the 
judgment of it depends upon the names of the judges and who they are, 
I tell you the people that dethroned the corrupt administration of New 
York will relieve themselves in some way, not, perhaps, satisfactory to 
those who love justice according to law, but at least in a way that relieves 
us from fraud and rascality. There is a way to entirely satisfy the peo- 
ple, and it is that the courts, still trusted by the people, shall give an honest 
adjudication of the cases submitted to them, and decide them upon their 
merits. I need not remind you, gentlemen, that it has been said in the 
olden time, and repeated over and over again, that justice finds its true 
resting-place in the bosom of God, that judges of the law are His min- 
isters, responsible in a higher degree for all they do than the mere 
citizen, for they are the custodians of their rights and liberties. I 
appeal to you, gentlemen, therefore, remembering what responsibilities 
are upon you, to see to it that in this case this cause is decided without 
fear, favor or affection, according to the merits of the case and the law 
of the land. 



APPENDIX 



4-^»^» 



THE CATTO MEETING.* 

Colonel A. K. McClure was the first speaker, and lie spoke 
as follows : 

This is in no sense a partisan occasion. A common peril 
has called this vast assemblage together. Grave considerations 
of the public peace and personal safety have compelled you to 
meet and deliberate. It is not the ruffian, the bully, the bur- 
glar or the murderer that demands a positive and earnest 
expression of public opinion in behalf of public order. For 
such the law is ample. Against such it can shield the citizen, 
and vindicate its majesty by appropriate punishment. — 
[Applause.] 

It is our boast that ours is a government of law, but its 
greatest of laws is unwritten in the statute books. There are 
crimes of mighty magnitude before which courts and statutes 
bow in helplessness. Offences thus supreme before the ordi- 
nary tribunals, call forth the supreme remedy of the land — the 
great tribunal of enlightened public opinion. [Cheers.] It 
is ever omnipotent. Whether it is as the hand-maid of the 
statutes and of the courts, or whether it is a law unto itself, it 
is the solemn judgment of the last resort. [Applause.] 

It has made memorable its supremacy in every stage of our 
progressive civilization. At times it has left rude marks of 
the provocation that made its long forbearance a crime against 
humanity. In our early frontier settlements, and even in the 
midst of regulated communities at times, corrupt or powerless 



* On the thirteenth of Ootober, 1871, a meeting was called, without distinction of 
party, to express the indignation of the community at the death of Prof. Catto, who 
was killed on election day. As the speech was much canvassed during the special 
election campaign, it is given from the report of the Evening Telegraph. 



182 

tribunals have been chastened and strengthened by the sove- 
reign attributes of public sentiment. In extreme cases defiant 
criminals have yielded summary atonement to this dread tribu- 
nal, that wrote its inexorable decrees only on its terrible 
monuments of justice. In ordinary times, in organized and 
well-ordered communities, it is often aroused to assert its 
majesty, by the growing prevalence and power of unwritten 
crimes against the dearest prerogatives of our citizenship. 
[Applause.] Its mission, under such circumstances, is within 
the law and of the law. [Applause.] It is not to seize the 
murderer or the ruffian and execute hasty punishment. With 
the creature, or the menial agent, who sends the death-bullet 
home to the heart, or drives the keen-edged steel to the vitals 
of the unoffending citizen, this assemblage has nothing to do. 
We have pure and faithful judges, and I trust upright officers 
and agents of the people in all the various departments of 
justice, who must deal with such as the law declares to be 
criminals. 

We are called together to invoke the sovereign power of a 
civilized community against the criminals the law cannot know. 
[Applause.] Many of them are probably guiltless of premedi- 
tated wrong. Many others are as guilty before the Great 
Judge of all the living as are the skulking assassins who have 
stained their souls with the life-blood of their fellows. The 
men who hurried Catto, and Chase, and Gordon to untimely 
graves, and made a score of wounded in our midst, would have 
been nerveless for the fiendi?h work had not some wide-spread, 
subtle moral miasma poisoned their hearts, maddened their brains, 
and impelled them to lawlessness and murder. [Applause.] 
We are here to deal with the fountain whence comes this moral 
pestilence, [prolonged applause,] not with the petty streams 
which bear its deadly currents to individuals. We are here to 
deal with principals, who teach and order violence and murder, 
not to decide upon the guilt and punishment of the unconscious 
agents and willing dupes who reflect the cowardly malice of 
others in riot and bloodshed. [Applause.] 



183 

And who are responsible ? The murderers were not made 
guilcy by the hope of gain. They had no personal feuds to 
make mortal enmity. They and their victims were to each 
other strangers. No sense of personal wrong quickened the 
passions and made a brother's death gratify individual resent- 
ment. They met in the discharge of the noblest of our civil 
duties, and the peaceable, unoffending gave their blood and 
their lives for their citizenship. [Prolonged applause.] Again 
1 ask the grave question — For this disorder, for these wounds, 
for these lives, who are responsible ? 

Let me answer in all soberness, that the responsibility rests 
not solely — no, not even mainly — with the degraded mockeries 
of our boasted citizenship, who are now trembling fugitives or 
prisoners in the hands of the law. The author of these crimes 
is the organized public sentiment that still teaches the oblite- 
rated laws of caste, and appeals to the ignorance and passions 
of the vicious to refuse by violence what our beneficent laws 
confer. [Sensation and protracted applause.] It is this 
crystallized public sentiment, fostered by prejudice and seized 
as the potent weapon of the demagogue, that is the fountain 
of this disorder and death. [Cheers and applause.] It steadily 
vomits forth its insidious assaults agrainst the laws, against the 
public peace, and at times it comes in a deluge of destruction. 
[Applause.] Its authors are not amenable to the laws. While 
our laws give equal privileges to the opulent and to the lowly, 
to the learned and unlearned, they also give to all freedom of 
speech and of conscience. But the citizen who deliberately 
abuses his right to speak and to believe as his judgment 
approves, and- sows the dragon-teeth of hate and prejudice 
among his fellows, is responsible to his country and to his God 
for the crimes his teachings prompt in the ignorant and the 
depraved. [Applause.] Catto did not die because his mur- 
derer was his natural enemy. 

He died because a poor, deluded wretch was taught that the 
black man has no rights the white man should respect. [Deaf- 
ening applause.] 



184 

It is this unwritten crime, unpunishable by our laws, that 
demands the concerted action of an enlightened public senti- 
ment to dethrone and punish it. It calls every friend of law 
and order to the front. [Applause.] Whatever his political 
persuasion, or whatever may have been his views as to the 
wisdom of enacting the laws we have, he is a foe of society and 
of the honor and prosperity of our beautiful city, who hesitates 
when called upon to reprobate and put to shame the lav/less 
teachings, no matter whence they come. Disorder is ever a 
crime. It cannot be made exceptional. Nor can it be 
bounded if tolerated. If it assails the black man to-day with 
impunity, it is invited to assail the white man to-morrow. 
[Applause.] If it strikes down the lowly in one outbreak 
with safety, it will strike at the opulent when prejudice and 
passion demand it. If it can rob of life it can rob of all else, 
for all else is less than life. If it can assault the Republican 
or Democrat for voting or laboring peaceably in accordance 
with his convictions, it can assault the Catholic at his mass, or 
the Protestant at his altar, because he worships as his con- 
science bids him. It has no defenders amongst law-abiding 
people. 

The remedy, and the only remedy, for the wrong is the 
exercise of the omnipotent power of the order-loving sentiment 
of our people. [Cheers and applause.] It is cherished where 
honesty, or justice, or charity, or Christianity has a votary. 
[Applause.] It is limited to no party lines or to no religious 
belief. It can enlist under its noble banner the great mass of 
our people of every honest conviction and pursuit ; and it has 
but to organize its grand tribunal, and declar-e its just man- 
date, and it will be obeyed. [Prolonged applause.] While 
the courts consign the creatures and victims of this organized 
fountain of disorder to merited punishment, let the supreme 
judgment of the law-loving people compel each citizen to elect, 
by his precept and example, between honor or shame, and 
peace will come to the black man and to the white man, and it 
will come to stay. [Cheers arid applause.] 



185 

There are times when the sacrifice of the life of a citizen 
does not sink deeply into the national heart. Our brave men, 
white and black, gave up thousands of lives to pi'eserve and 
regenerate our government of freedom, and the nation could 
not measure its single sacrifices. But there are times when 
by the fewest and the humblest of lives, a great people may 
receive wounds which cannot heal. [Applause.] The dagger 
or the bullet that prostrates the least of our fellows because he 
exercises the sacred rights solemnly guaranteed alike to all, 
wounds in a vital part our best inheritance and our children's 
noblest patrimony. [Applause.] To maintain the priceless 
blessings of liberty and law we have given countless treasure. 
Life and resources were deemed as but secondary to govern- 
ment. We had made the black man a slave. We disfran- 
chised, oppressed and ostracised him. We interdicted his 
education by statute, made him a hopeless menial, and drove 
him without the pale of progress. We denied him the right to 
protect the honor of his own humble fireside, and made his 
children the property of his oppressors. But in the fullness 
of time he came up, through the tempest and flame of battle, 
to the full stature of his manhood. [Prolonged applause.] 
From the graves of the brave Northern and Southern soldiers 
of every color and condition peace came at last, with justice 
and equality before the law as hsr daring attributes, and the 
nation accepted them as the brightest jewels in the crown of 
victory. [Cheers and applause.] It is solemnly affirmed in 
our fundamental law that our proud citizenship knows no pre- 
ference of caste, condition or color. [Applause.] Just when 
the progress of civilization, expanding and liberalizing as it 
progressed, had encircled the globe in its flight, and was 
surging back from our Western shores upon the cradle of the 
human race, the redeemed Republic of the New World 
proclaimed to every nation of the earth that our liberty, our 
laws, and our citizenship are an ofifering to all mankind, 
whether bond or free. [Cheers and applause.] It is the 
pledge of this great government, and it is the personal pride 
and safety of every citizen, however great or however lowly ; 



186 

and every violation of it aims with deadly purpose at the right* 
of every individual. [Applause.] 

Why Catto, and Chase and Gordon were murdered, and 
why many more were brutally wounded, is well known to every 
citizen in Philadelphia. They suifered death and wounds 
because of their race. [Applause.] They were hated because 
we have wronged them ; they were killed or disabled because 
of their misfortune ; and we owe it to the majesty of our laws, 
to our own sense of justice, by which we must expect to be 
judged hereafter, and above all we owe it to the oppressed and 
helpless, to throw the broad shield of the protecting power of 
our government, and of a just people, over every class of our 
citizens. [Prolonged applause.] We have enfranchised this 
long oppressed race, as did our fathers in the earlier and purer 
days of the republic. [Applause.] They are granted the 
blessings and made to assume all the responsibilities of our 
citizenship, and their nameless tombs on the hillsides and 
plains of the South testify to the price they have given for 
equal justice. [Applause.] How they shall discharge the 
duties and privileges they have acquired it is for themselves 
to determine within our laws. How they shall vote or speak, 
or believe, or worship, is for their own free judgment to 
decide, and the sentiment that would deny them, or any other 
class of citizens, the full and free enjoyment of their rights, is 
the enemy of public peace and the author of disorder and 
death. Let all patriotic citizens unite as one man to vindicate 
the laws in their full measure of justice and equality, so "that 
government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
shall not perish from the earth!" [Prolonged applause.] 



FOR OR AGAINST GRANT?* 

It is not tlie habit of this journal to loosely express opinions 
unwarranted by the facts ; and we recognize that the high 
esteem in which we are held by the intelligent public is due to 
the constant care exercised in our discussion of public events. 
It is not a matter of surprise, therefore, that the charge made 
by us against Colonel McClure — that he was in direct antago- 
nism to General Grant — has created a grave disturbance in the 
ranks of those who were prepared to espouse his cause, but are 
unwilling to join in any movement to be construed in opposi- 
tion to the President. An effort has been made to counteract 
the effect of our assertion, by public announcement and private 
circulation of the statement that Colonel McClure is a Grant 
man, and that the canvass cannot be considered, consequently, 
as affecting any but local issues. In this movement it is honor- 
able to Colonel McClure's consistency to find no evidence of 
his instigation or approval. In the able and rhetorical 
addresses he has delivered to meetings of the voters of his 
district, he has entirely avoided any allusion to or explanation 
of his position on this subject. On other matters he has been 
almost diffuse; on this, silent. And his reticence is signifi- 
cant. No Democrat can find fault with anything he has said 
on these occasions, while every true Republican must see cause 
for alarm because of his studied omissions. 

For several years the subject of Colonel McClure's hostility 
to the present administration has been discussed at greater or 



* This article appeared editoriaUy in the North American a few day a before the 
Senatorial election, and justly assumes to speak the views of the National Adminis- 
tration in the contest. The article was printed on slips and distributed by the letter 
carriers to every house in the district. 



188 

less length by journals attaching importance to the matter, 
and without denial on his part. As recently as the 14th of 
December last, he addressed to the editor of the Grermantown 
Telegraph a letter over his own signature, subsequently pub- 
lished in several other newspapers, the North American being 
one. In that communication appears the following para- 
graph : 

" If not to prefer Grant as the next Republican nominee would make 
me seem rather ridiculous as a Senatorial candidate, or ' interpose difficul- 
ties in the way,' lam not eligible.'^ 

The italics are our own, and we submit to the Republican 
voters of that district, who are almost unanimous in their desire 
for the renomination of General Grant, that to elect to a posi- 
tion in which he will hold the control of the Legislature, and 
so be able to prevent any expression in favor of our present 
leader, a gentleman who, in advance, avows his opposition, 
will certainly be disregarding very apparent "difficulties." 
To take Colonel McClure at his own estimate, he certainly 
should be " ineligible." Subsequently, in the same letter. Col. 
McClure says : 

" I do not prefer General Grant's renomination. It is confessed that 
the Republicans have many men who would be more competent, and at 
least equally faithful in the first civil office of the goverumeut, and I 
believe that they would much better maintain the unity and purity of the 
organization." 

When it is remembered that these quotations are from a 
letter carefully prepared for publication, written in view of 
this very contest, and unnecessarily purged of all the bitter- 
ness and violence imputed to its author in personal discourse, 
it is idle to deny our allegation. Colonel McClure himself 
has not done so, and we have no idea that he will. He is a 
man of too much decision to alter his deep-rooted opinions in 
an hour, and if he did it would be an evidence of vacillation 
which would not augur well to the hopes of his constancy to 
the measures upon the popularity of which he seeks to ride 
into power. 



189 

In the Fourth Senatorial District there were polled at the 
election in October last twenty thousand nine hundred and 
fifty-six votes for Mr. George Connell, and twenty-one thou- 
sand may be fairly taken, therefore, as the measure of the 
strength of the Republican party in that section. The dis- 
trict embraces a very large proportion of the intelligent and 
influential citizens of Philadelphia, including as it does Ger- 
mantown and West Philadelphia within its boundaries. Hun- 
dreds resident there will suggest themselves to all familiar with 
the people of high mark in Philadelphia, representing large 
industrial interests and of superior mental capacity, fitted in 
every way to be the champions of any movement intended to 
express dissatisfaction with local management or party disci- 
pline. With a choice among thousands, it is somewhat 
remarkable that no other selection should have been made as 
the proper standard bearer of the dissatisfied than the one man 
of all that multitude who of late years has been most promi- 
nently brought before the the people because of his bitter 
hostility and constant antagonism to the recognized head of 
the Republican party — the President of the United States. 

To Colonel McClure's great abilities we have already borne 
testimony; but Ave cannot overlook the fact that his election 
would be a denial of countless protestations which have gone 
forth from the people of Philadelphia. If they support the 
President they cannot support his defamer. Our merchants 
in formal council, our manufacturers in their trade conven- 
tions, and our citizens by voice and vote have hitherto pro- 
claimed that the course of the Administration has met their 
approval ; and the nation at large has been led to believe by 
her own declarations that Philadelphia would be foremost in 
the renewal of her fealty to a chief who had served so wisely 
and so well. The question is not a personal one to be consid- 
ered as an issue between individuals ; when the representative 
of power is assaulted, the power itself is attacked. Nor can 
Colonel McClure be numbered as one of a considerable faction 
of Republicans in this State opposed to the Administration of 



190 

General Grant, and therefore entitled to a voice in the control 
of affairs ; for in Pennsylvania the sentiment is so nearly 
unanimous that we can recall no other prominent man holding 
the same views. This is an issue we cannot afford to overlook, 
and the true Republican will surely hesitate to record any 
vote which may be construed, and properly so, as antagonism 
to an administration under which retrenchment and economy 
have been so vigorously enforced. 

We are anxious as any to see a thorough reform instituted 
in the management of our local affairs, and we are as loth as 
any to see the continuance of a system of representation in the 
working of which the voice of the majority is not paramount. 
But as we differed from those claiming the title of Reformers 
in the policy they urged of continuing in power a police force 
which was a terror to the timid during its entire career, so now 
we differ from them in refusing to see that the road to reform 
in the municipality is through a course which endorses, if it 
does not strike, a succession of blows at a National Adminis- 
tration which we are proud to recognize as a model of integrity. 

Colonel McClure is no fledgling filled with ambitious hope 
to found a political Arcadia ; he is no untried citizen forced 
by his recognized merit to unwillingly enter the arena as the 
champion of right. He advances to the fight armed with all 
the knowledge of the shrewd working politician ; in none of 
the schemes and combinations conceived or fostered during his 
legislative career was he ever recognized as holding a subordi- 
nate position. 

It is the Democratic vote to which Col. McClure must owe 
his election, if he succeeds ; and so agreeable to that element 
is his selection that it almost seems that his choice is the result 
of their shrewd machinations. There is the very grave ques- 
tion, therefore, to consider, in addition to the unanswerable 
argument we have already advanced, whether it would not be 
mistaken policy to place the balance of power in the State 



191 

Legislature in the hands of an astute politician, who will owe 
his success, if he attains it, to our opponents ; and who is 
himself so directly at issue in national matters with the mass 
of Republicans that he might seriously disturb the harmony 
of the party. 



SENATOR McGLURE. 



WHY HE GOES TO CINCINNATI, 



To the Editor of the Evening Bulletin : 

I thank you for the frankness with which you criticised my 
assent to the Cincinnati movement in your editorial of yester- 
day. If your premises are correct your censure is but just, 
and I could do no less than resign the Senatorial trust con- 
fided to me by the united efforts of the independent Republican 
press and voters of Philadelphia. Let me renew the assurance 
to you and your readers, whose good opinions I hope ever to 
merit, that whenever I cannot maintain my plighted faith to 
my constituents, or meet their just expectations on any ques- 
tion affecting their interests or their wishes, I shall feel bound, 
by every consideration of honor and duty, to surrender the 
position I have accepted at their hands. 

I declared in January last, as you state, that "no folly of 
any one can make me faithless to my plain, positive pledge to 
obey the well-known sentiments of the Republicans of the 
district on the Presidency." Taken in connection with what 
preceded and succeeded the statement in my speech, it is not 
without qualification, but I do not plead it. Upon one point 
I was so specific that misunderstanding was impossible. I 
proclaimed, on all occasions, that I would sustain the Repub- 
lican organization, in or out of the Senate, excepting when it 
confronted municipal or general reform, and then I would 
obey no caucus or convention. I meant all of that then — I 
mean all of tliat now. 



193 

Had I been returned elected, as I confessedly was elected, 
in January last, and the question of Grant's renomination had 
been presented for the consideration of the Republican Sena- 
tors, I would have subordinated my individual preferences, and 
yiven effect to what was then undoubtedly the choice of the 
Republicans of the district. I could have pardoned the Pre- 
sident's personal, official and malignant hostility to the reform 
movement in that contest, on the ground that bad men had 
deceived him by their appeals for party organization; and I 
micrht have excused it also on the ground that a Senator had 
no rio-ht to do a wrono; to his constituents because the President 
saw fit to degrade his office by interfering with a local contest. 

But, after an exhausting struggle with organized plunderers, 
in which the Bulletin rendered eminent service, the people 
were denied a true return of the honest vote, and a fraudulent 
return o-iven to the defeated candidate. With one voice the 
press of Philadelphia, of all shades of opinion, demanded in- 
vestio-ation of the frauds. The issue had been tried, and the 
true verdict was well understood by every intelligent citizen. 
The question had then ceased to be political in any sense con- 
sistent Avith justice. 

It became a mere question of testing the common honesty of 
those who were called upon to act, or who assumed to act, in 
the matter; and the administration of President Grant was the 
head and front, the bulwark and shield of the men who strug- 
o-led in desperation to commit a double fraud upon the people 
of Philadelphia, by perpetuating the dominion of the rings, 
rounders and repeaters in our municipal affairs. 

While a few of us were laboring day and night, after the 
election, to prepare the evidence of fraud in form for the con- 
sideration of the Senate, the command came from the President 
that there must be no investigation, and there was not a plun- 
derer about the State House dens who did not plume himself 
because the edict of power had gone forth to sustain the fraudu- 
lent return awarded against the people. The Republican 
Senators rushed into caucus under the lash of the administra- 
13 



194 

tion, and personally importuned and driven by officials direct 
from the throne, to devise how not to allow inquiry into what 
they knew to be deliberate fraud upon the better citizens of 
Philadelphia. 

A few Republican Senators meant to do right, but they were 
unwilling to incur the wrath of power until there was no hope 
of investigation by obedience to caucus. For two weeks the 
appliances of the administration were successful, and only when 
three brave men declared, with the Democrats, that they would 
at once vote to select a committee, under the constitutional 
powers of the Senate, without regard to law, was an act allowed 
to pass authorizing a committee. But for the manly action of 
Messrs. Colonel Davis, Strang and Billingfelt, the repeating, 
ballot-stuffing, false counting, perjury and rioting of the Fourth 
District would have been strengthened for fresh triumphs over 
the people of Philadelphia, by the positive protection given 
them by the President of the United States. The Bulletin 
appreciated the state of the case, pending the struggle with 
power at Harrisburg, when it gave the bold and able leader, 
notifying the President that "Hands Off" was a necessity if he 
would preserve the confidence of the Republicans of this city. 
I beg you to re-peruse that faithful admonition. 

Nor did the desperation of administrative power end when 
an investigation was ordered. The evidence appalled the com- 
munity. It was proven from day to day how the custom house, 
the post office, the navy yard, the arsenal and the revenue 
offices had vomited forth their repeaters, their perjured election 
officers, their leaders of gangs of rounders, their scienced bal- 
lot-box stuffers and their expert forgers of returns. One by 
one, by name and official position, they were pointed out, by 
sworn testimony, that no effort was made to impeach, and cir- 
cumstantially convicted of their crimes. 

The daily journals published and commented on the startling 
evidence, and no one of ordinary intelligence can plead ignor- 
ance of these fearful wrongs or wrong-doers. Notwithstanding 
President Grant's profuse professions and public proclamations 



195 

in favor of civil service reform, not one of these well-known 
criminals has been removed, excepting two or three who have 
been promoted in their respective departments. 

If yoii doubt that these men, under the protecting power of 
the President, have absolute control of the Republican organi- 
zation in Philadelphia, and mainly throughout the State, scan 
the men who are to represent you, and the sixty thousand 
Republicans of our city, in the National Convention. They 
will, in that great body, assuming to reflect the wishes of the 
Republicans of the nation, simply repay the obligations they 
owe to the administration for maintaining them in place and 
power at the sacrifice of public decency. 

I oppose the re-nomination of President Grant because he 
is the foe of every principle of reform; because I am fully 
convinced that two- thirds or more of the Reform Republicans 
of Philadelj»hia sincerely desire another candidate, and because 
he cannot and should n<)t be elected against any other candi- 
date with a loyal record. Assured by the character of the 
delegates chosen to the Philadelphia Convention, so far as I 
can personally judge, that they will merely do the bidding of 
power regardless of the convictions or preferences of the party, 
I sliall consult with other independent Republicans at Cincin- 
nati, and act as my duty to Republican principles, to a Repub- 
lican constituency, and to the country shall dictate. If by 
this, disaster comes upon our organization, tell me in truth and 
soberness: Who must answer for it? 

A. K. McCLURE. 

Philadelphia, April 20, 1872. 



"LIBERALISM vs. GRANTISM!" 



SI^EEGHC 



OF 



HON. A. K. MCCLURE, 

Delivered in Cooper Institute, New York, 



June 3rd, 1872. 



The last great battle of our civil war is about to be fougbt. The armies 
are beiug marshaled for the decisive struggle. There will be marching and 
counter-marching: in forming the lines. There will be for a time some con- 
fusion in the counsels of commanders. There will be banners bearing 
strange devices to embarrass the unity of men who cherish a common faith. 
There will be perfidy here and there to play its part in obeying the mandates 
of arrogant power. But in the fulness of time there will be two great, or- 
ganized, disciplined and earnest parties contending for supremacy. Outside 
of them there will be the political antediluvians, the Swiss rovers, hovering 
around both camps, and it may be a small appendage of power, employed to 
prostitute a party name to advance the interests of that party's most malig- 
nant foes. 

We have many people who cannot understand that the world is twelve 
years older now than it was twelve years ago. They accept nothing in the 
line of advancement. They are unmindful that France tolerates no Napo- 
leon when she is Bourbon, and makes Bourbons fugitives when she is Na- 
poleon j that England is Whig and Tory by turns, and worships power until 
change is dictated by public necessity or interest ; that the Resolutions of 
'98 belong to our forgotten history, and the last man that has read them 
with faith will soon be dead ; that slavery is of another age, and will blacken 
only the pages of the past; that the war ended in 1865, and enemies are 
now friends ; that military rule was wise for war, but that the victories of 
peace are the most renowned of the world's achievements, and that men who 
have differed in the conflicts of politics, of statesmanship and of arms must 
often become allies and friends, unless enlightened progress is to perish from 
the earth. 

There are times when new occasions come upon us, and they bring new 
duties. If we should ever stand upon the stale prejudices and passions and 
dogmas which have had their day and served or failed in their purpose, we 
would learn nothing, forget nothing, accomplish nothing. Democrats would 
be Democrats, contending for the States' rights of other days, for slavery that 
is dead and past the hope of resurrection, for the unconstitutionality of war 

This Speech is printed from the report of the New York Tribune. 



measures when war has fulfilled its mission, for the defeat of the logical re- 
sults of the war which are as fixed as free government itself, and for distinc- 
tions of race and color when our fundamental law has interposed its supreme 
authority to forbid them. Republicans would be Republicans, contending 
for war, for confiscation, for capital executions, for the disregard of civil 
power, for the overthrow of local self-government, for the spawning of new 
swarms of carpet-bag officials, for bayonet elections, and for free suffrage 
only for people of their own faith. Tammany would be Tammany still, for 
who could have advanced to assault its mailed soldiery ? It required the 
Wo7-ld, after boxing the Tammany compass, to revolt at Tweed's Democratic 
nomination for Senator, and required Horace Greeley to support Horatio 
Seymour and Samuel J. Tilden for the Legislature. A common interest 
made the bitterest differences of other conflicts fade into forgetful n ess, and 
a common danger made men of every faith and shade of antagonism unite 
to redeem the great metropolis of the Union. 

In the circles of political progress we are now and then brought shoulder 
to shoulder in the ardent maintenance of our free institutions, after the mcJst 
desperate conflicts for our convictions. Wise men and patriotic men do not 
then rage over what each has said or done in the dead struggles of the past ; 
but they accept the duties of the present and faithfully perform them. The 
pronounced Federalist of other days was the Democratic President of 1856, 
and the Buchanan voter of 1856 was the Republican President of 1868. 
The Democratic Senator of 1856 was the Republican Vice President of 
1860; the Democratic Senator of 1860 was the Republican Vice President 
of 1864, and the Republican general and statesman of 186-4 was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for Vice President in 1868. 

The political differences which culminated in our civil war were the most 
impassioned we have ever known. The North was arrayed against the 
North, and the South was arrayed against the South with inteusest bitter- 
ness; but when the guns of Moultrie fired their first round at Sumter, party 
lines were obliterated in the North by the paramount duties of patrotism. 
And when the soldiers of the Republic marched upon the soil of rebellion, 
the South stood as one man to defend the Southern cause, regardless of the 
earnest differences they had maintained. As always in war, so at times in 
peace, great perils dwarf the conflicts of mere party and of ambition, and 
call upon the people to enlist for the general safety. Although less start- 
ling, because less violent, the civil usurper is often more dangerous to public 
liberty than the warrior who unfurls his banners and challenges to battle in 
the open field. Especially is this so when a nation has just borne all the 
exactions and despotic government usually incident to protracted war. It 
invites rulers to the exercise of extreme and exceptional powers, and blunts 
the sensibilities of the people to a measure of tolerance that makes them 
slow to resent usurpations which, in the healthy and sensitive public opinion 
of peace, would quicken popular reprobation, and effect the speedy overthrow 
of the faithless ruler. War is destruction. It destroys, and only destroys. 



It sweeps away the obstinate barriers of progress, but leaves uothing but 
desolatiun. Its laws of might and surging currents of despotism remain 
even in the most civilized countries. When its tempests are stilled, its cam- 
paigns closed, its dead gathered to their mother dust, its vanquished submis- 
sive, and its flags furled, war itself has to be conquered by the armies of 
peace. Peace must mould the victories of the sword by its wise and benefi- 
cent direction, and sow and water and reap the harvest of enlightened ad- 
vancement. In its great work its greatest foe is usually the spirit of usurp- 
ation, created by war, which only too often endangers the stability of gov- 
ernment and the happiness of the people more profoundly than its grim- 
visaged author. The history of nations is replete with the gravest admoni- 
tions on this subject, and when such dangers threaten a free government, 
every dictate of patriotism calls citizens of every faith to maintain their 
liberties, regardless of political associations. 

This grave duty has been imposed upon the American people. A soldier, 
with strong and most freely accorded claims upon national gratitude, has been 
called from the field to the first civil office of the government. The people 
judged him generously, and were slow to complain. They chose him, the 
chieftain of the battle-field, under the banner of peace. They had dissevered 
States to be re-united, the demon of discord and the passions of war to con- 
quer, and countless battle scars to heal. His election was no whirlwind of 
popular caprice or irrational desire for change. It was the deliberate, solemn 
verdict of a patriotic people, aiming to restore a distracted and bleeding 
country to fraternity and prosperity. He was not accounted a statesman. 
He was confessedly unschooled in the intricacies of eivil administration, and 
no high measure of ability was claimed for him. But he had met the na- 
tion's greatest need in war, and they accepted the soldier's promise that they 
should have peace. They confidently hoped to see the first statesmanship 
of the country called to his counsels — men who could appreciate and practice 
a wise respect for the popular will, and who would be equal to the great occa- 
sions to arise in his administration. But when the firs^t ministry was an- 
nounced, friends could not conceal their only too well-founded apprehensions. 
The soldier was soldier still. He would teach, not learn ; he would com- 
mand, not obey. Men of conflicting opinions, strangers to fame, devoid of 
merit, and wholly unfitted for leaders, were installed as counselors of State. 
There was illy-concealed contempt on all sides for these caricatures of Cabinet 
officers, for with bated breath men told to each other the only story that 
explained the strange defiance of the wants of the nation. They had been 
gift-bearers and flatterers, and depiirtment portfolios were their rewards. 
The painful and humiliating history of such a ministry could have been 
written as well then as now by any intelligent citizen. It could give fruit 
only in distraction, disintegration and disgrace. Two only of the original 
appointments remain, and the exceptions would have been more honored in 
the breach than in the observance. One has sanctioned too much corruption to 
be excused even by the prevalent measure of incompetency that has ruled 



iu the Cabinet, and the other has trifled with our credit until it was hardly 
able to save itself. One wise man was in the original ministry. Mr. Borie, 
when recovered from the bewilderment of his appointment, frankly confessed 
his unfitness, and retired. Another has just been tried, and excused because 
he had paid only $93,000 to contractors without understanding that it was 
unlawful. Another is happily absent in his far-distant State, seeking a new 
place, and preparing for the end that is nigh at hand. The premier has 
given the nations of the world a new and novel achievement in statesman- 
ship. He is the inventor of consequential damages, and has demonstrated 
what a fearful meaning two simple words can convey to a country. When a 
wise convention had given us a fair and honorable treaty, made in good faith, 
the Secretary of State attempted diplomacy. He proposed to electrify us 
by an absurd demand, the result of an equally absurd construction of the 
treaty. The insult to a friendly Power was resented, and by the ablest of 
English premiers, and the bombast of stupidity hurled its shame upon the 
nation. Whether the treaty is wholly sacrificed or not, we have shown to 
the world by our pitiful humiliation, what consequential damages may be 
suff"ered by a great people through the incompetency of their administration. 
The fabulous millions claimed by our government would be as nothing com- 
pared with the national contempt we have invited, and the prestige and 
power we have sacrificed by the arrogance of ignorance, in attempting to deal 
with the most experienced statesmen of the Old World. In brief, this ad- 
ministration will be memorable in our history as the administration without a 
statesman. 

The same policy that prevailed in the selection of Cabinet ministers has 
scattered like fruits all over the land. Incompetency, venality and shame 
have been the logical results of unblushing nepotism, and the appointment 
of unscrupulous men who had found the way to the favor of the throne. 
New Orleans was plunged into anarchy to gratify an adventurous relative of 
the President, who, although convicted of official misconduct by testimony 
elicited by a friendly committee, is still in office j and New York has been, 
and still is, a seething cauldron of custom house corruption. The collector- 
ship and a seaside cottage are exchanged, and the young gentry of the mili- 
tary "Ring" come like the vultures for their prey. 

An honest, faithful man, to whom the President and the party owed a 
lasting debt of gratitude, was displaced by contract, and degraded in position 
only as a half-way step to unconditional removal ; and others followed for the 
crime of believing that dishonesty is not reputable. The military ring was 
licensed by the Executive to plunder the commerce of the city, and neither 
removal nor disfavor has followed the exposure of the frauds of the general 
order business. In my own city the official places are asylums for the politi- 
cal desperadoes attached to Republicanism by the persuasion of power and 
perquisites. When I proved them to be repeaters at elections, they were 
promoted instead of being removed. When I proved that they had de- 
bauched election officers, and unlawfully acted as officers and falsified the 



5 

returns, I merely made them invincible in their official places and gave them 
increased claims upon administration favor. There was not a single depart- 
ment of national power in Philadelphia that was not proved to have been a 
fountain of fraud at a late election, and not one removal bas been made ex- 
cept the voluntary removal of a leading officer, who would not obey the bid- 
ding of the administration to screen and sanction fraud. 

Never in the history of our government has there been an approach to 
the present literal prostitution of political power. It has not merely cor- 
rupted the civil service to an unprecedented degree, but it has unmanned 
every element of popular power that could be reached. Bad men have been 
accorded the control of patronage in their respective States, and they have 
rushed where wise men would not tread. The favors of the Revenue and 
Post Office Departments have been made instruments of corruption and ven- 
geance; and the press has been subsidized, and freedom of expression and 
action forbidden by those who assume and are allowed to represent the Exec- 
utive. So prevalent and so well understood is this system of official prosti- 
tution, that office-holders are advised to hide from the people in popular dem- 
onstrations manufactured in the cause of the administration. 

The advice is openly given in recognized organs, and in Philadelphia the 
subject became so grave in its relation to popular sentiment, that the City 
Committee, made up almost wholly of office-holders and dependents, for- 
mally resolved that office-holders must go to the rear until the storm has sub- 
sided. The same policy gave us the Santo Domingo job and the Santo Do- 
mingo disgrace, and with them came a measure of Executive usurpation that 
no monarch of Europe could have practiced with impunity. The whole 
treaty and war-making powers of the government were usurped when three 
was no excuse to offer for it other than that secresy was essential to success- 
ful jobbery. If this is not the truthful explanation, then never were igno- 
rance and despotism more wilful and wanton in trifling with sacred rights. 

The independent press protested, the people revolted, a few of the purest 
and ablest Senators maintained the laws at the cost of personal humiliation 
in the Senate, and the wrong was defeated. But the military and Senatorial 
"Rings" are only waiting for a new lease of power to renew the eifort with 
increased desperation. Happily, it is safe now to congratulate the country 
that no extension of authority will ever be given by the people to the present 
administration, and if Santo Domingo is ever to be annexed it must be done 
by lawful and honorable means. 

But the supreme and common danger that threatens the people is the no 
longer concealed purpose of the administration to enforce an unmixed per- 
sonal or centralized government. In time of profound peace, when the 
hnnger-cry of the people is for escape from all the evils of war, and for the 
complete restoration of our beneficent civil authority, we are met with the 
most dogged maintenance of arbitrary powers, and threatened with a total 
subversion of our laws designed to protect the people in the fair expression 
of the popular will. "Wiile the intelligent will understand that enforcement 



6 

bills mean simply the enforcement of the verdict of the ballot box, and 
that the suspension of the civil laws means the verdict of bayonets instead 
of the verdict of ballots, the desperate leaders of the adininistration have 
at last thrown oif all dissembling, and made the frank appeal to Congress 
to save the President by overthrowing the laws. 

It was frankly admitted in debate that, without arbitrary powers to defy 
the people, the Southern States would reject the consuming vampyres who 
rule them under the protection of the military, and restore some measure of 
fitness, honesty and economy in their governments. The appeal was boldly 
made to the Republican Congress, but the people, through the popular branch 
of power, dismayed and confused the conspirators against the laws by sol- 
emnly calling a " Halt !" along the whole line. 

The President and half the Cabinet were in the Capitol at the time to en- 
force obedience to the administration mandate, but a decided majority of the 
whole House present answered back the stern, irrevocable command of the 
people, that their servants must obey the laws and administer them to arrest 
and not to enforce oppression. Here in New York and in Philadelphia the 
experiment was made two years ago to familiarize us with bayonete at the 
polls, so that in 1872 the grand purpose of defying the popular will, if nec- 
essary, might be consummated. Our people in the city of Brotherly Love 
shuddered as they saw files of armed marines marched to the election 
grounds upon the pretense that disorder must be suppressed, when neither 
the municipal nor State authorities had been called upon to maintain the 
public peace. 

There was not even the ordinary pretext of political partiality or preju- 
dice to justify the insult to the people of Philadelphia. The municipal and 
State authorities were of difierent political faith, and could not have con- 
spired to tolerate disorder in the interest of any political party. It was 
merely an exhibition of the insolence of power, and intended to be the fore- 
runner of the military election of 1872. In New York the experiment was 
also made. The spectacle was presented of the first city of the Union hold- 
ing a general election under the gleam of bayonets, when the public peace 
was not endangered, unless by the arrogance of military commanders. The 
pretext was the assumption that the party in power meant to commit frauds. 

Granted that it was so, is the Pi'esident, whose election may depend upon 
the result, to judge when elections are to be practically taken possession of 
by the military ? Can he assume that others mean to commit fraud, and be 
intrusted with absolute power to control or break up elections by violence, 
when the continuance of his power is to be passed upon by the people ? 
When the civil laws are subordinated to the military in time of peace, civil 
authority is at an end. There can be no divided authority on an election 
day, except in the suppression of actual violence that has overcome the offi- 
cers of the civil laws. Where military authority begins, all civil authority 
ends for the time being, and military law is but the will of the commander. 
Wellington so defined it, and Grant has demonstrated it beyond the possibil- 
ity of dispute. 



But the chief field for the military control of elections is the South, and 
there the President and his unscrupulous advisers turned their eyes with 
hopeful longing for bayonet achievements at the polls. The Southern States 
rebelled against us, but they fought us with a heroism that made the whole 
civilized world respect them. To the full measure that they sinned, they 
have sufi"ered, and they have borne it more than manfully. Their whole fair 
land is ridged with the graves of the fallen, and their maimed and scarred 
are thick among them. Thousands of millions of wealth have passed from 
them forever, and the slave is now the political peer or the superior of the 
master. Through countless sacrifice of blood and treasure we have passed 
the ordeal of our national regeneration, and North and South mourn as 
brethren the errors of the past, confined wholly to no one section, which 
made the peaceful dedication of a continent to freedom impossible. 

But, incalculable as was the sacrifice of the material interests of the South 
by rebellion, it has paled before the withering and hopeless desolation inflic- 
ted upon those States by the rule of adventurers. An aggregate 'debt grea- 
ter than the aggregate debt of all the States of the Union before the war, has 
been'loaded upon the Southern States by the rule of imbecile and characterless 
men, who were strangers to the people they so pitilessly oppressed. And 
their rule has been without compensation. Even the tempest that sweeps the 
land with destruction gives the cooling and reviving showers, and its terrible 
thunderbolts purify the air we breathe, but the reign of the carpet-bagger 
will stand out in our history of treason, perfidy and war as wholly excep- 
ional in the degree of its unmingled wrongs against mankind. 

Whatever may have been necessary for the purposes of a just and equal 
government to all in the South six years ago> there is nothing to extenuate 
the maintenance of plunderers in ofiice by arbitrary Congressional enact- 
ments enforced by the army. Least of all should we tolerate the continued 
desolation of those States merely to make them the playthings of ambition. 
The Southern people are our brethren, I speak not merely in obedience to 
the dictates of conviction and of patriotism, but I have been so taught by 
the President who would now bring their electoral votes as military trophies 
into his political camp. 

The second soldier of rebellion was one of the first to receive lucrative and 
responsible ofiice at his hands, and another — unheralded by fame, a civilian 
without destinction and Confederate soldier without stars — was called to the 
cabinet, and scores of lesser enemies in war are trusted office-holders of the 
administration. I speak of them as accepted citizens of a common country, 
and under our just government a needless wrong to the humblest of them 
now, is a wrong to the nation. An assault upon their rights is an assault 
upon the rights of every citizen of the Union, and the overthrow of civil 
authority there, and the violent control of their elections in the choice of a 
national ruler, is but the destruction of civil authority and the subversion of 
the popular will in every section of the Republic. 

Citizens of New York, the war of arms is over; its lingering relics, which 



8 

are preserved in our government, are maintained by mean ambition, or meaner 
passion. We are battling for Peace, for Liberty, for Law. Amnesty must 
be universal; civil authority must be supreme in New York, Philadelphia, 
Charleston and New Orleans. The humblest citizen, whether in the busy, 
progressive North, or in the desolated sunny South, or in the golden States 
on the sunset side of the great mountains, shall vote this year in obedience 
to his convictions; and the despotism of prostituted power will learn the 
lesson for all time that here the voice of freemen expressed without lawless- 
ness or coercion is the sovereign power of the nation. With such great 
issues appealing to every patriot and to the faith of an overwelming majority 
of the people of the Union, the path of duty is plain, and it demands no 
surrender of former political association. Let Democrats be Democrats if 
they will, and let Republicans be Republicans if they prefer, but let patriots 
be patriots above all. Let us save our threatened free institutions before we 
decide on questions of the details of government. Let us first assure free 
government to ourselves and to our children, and we may struggle for the 
issues we respectively deem wisest in the administration 

The issues and the duties of the hour point to the candidate with unmis- 
takable distinctness. Horace Greeley is the embodiment of the nation's 
greatest need. Ever independent, fearless and honest, and pursuing a pro- 
fession of daily utterance, he has antagonized warmly, and erred as mortals 
ever do. But he has crowned his calling with its greenest laurels, and 
humanity, progress and peace have enlisted his best efforts in one of our 
noblest lives. He is wise enough to know that Presidents need the highest 
standard of statesmanship, and that no personal government, however pure 
or enlightened, can successfully or acceptably rule forty millions of freemen. 
He was brave enough to defend the rights of the lowly and oppressed when 
popular prejudice withstood his efforts like walls of adamant, and he was 
wise enough to labor effectively with stumbling, hesitating progress until the 
harvest was ripened and could be gathered in completeness. When the pas- 
sions of civil war, intensified by the murder of a beloved ruler, were sweep- 
ing over our distracted country, but one voice was heard above the storm 
calling for amnesty, suffrage and peace. It seemed like flinging the pebble 
at the thunderbolt. In the phrenzy of sectional hate, that even the best of 
men excused, he was assailed and. reviled for his words of truth and sober- 
ness. Tens of thousands ceased to read his daily counsels to a bleeding and 
stricken people. It was the rich harvest of demagogues. They could ride 
into power upon the tidal wave of passion, when, in times for the considera- 
tion of merit, they would be rejected with scorn. But the honest man and 
far-seeing patriot could afford to wait. The United States Senate gained a 
superserviceable votary of power, as the passions of the day ruled in the New 
York Legislature. But the nation will gain a law-abiding, patriotic and 
peaceful President in the rejected stone of the impassioned builders of 1866. 

The Keystone will join hands with the Empire State in this restoration of 
our land to peace. The palsied South will speak from the homes of enfran- 
chised slaves and masters for her safety and prosperity. The column of the 
East will be broken, as New England divides her States between right and 
wrong. The prairies of the West will reverse the mighty majorities given 
in the name of peace in 1868, as they renew the demand for peace in 1872 ; 
and from the fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains and the far Western coast 
will come an unbroken voice, whose battle-cry will be peace for the living, 
and self-government assured as the priceless legacy of successive ages to come 
after us. 



- - ^ , If 



THE 

DEGENERACY OF REPUBLICANISM. 



-♦♦- 



SPEECH 



OP 



HON.A.K.MCCLURE, 



DELIVERED IN 



Morton Hall, Philadelphia, 



June 26, 1872. 



iPrinted from the report of the Evening Telegraph. 



Fellow-Citizens : — "We are upon the threshold of another po- 
litical revolution. History but repeats itself in politics as in the 
conflicts of arms, the achievements of science, and the cycles of 
all moral and material progress. Since the " era of good feel- 
ing" that came with Monroe's second election, no political or- 
ganization has been wise enough to extend its national suprem- 
acy beyond a period of three Presidential terms, and it required 
the sweep of Jacksonism and the supreme political necessities 
created by civil war, to give such protracted leases of power. 
The political tornado of 1840 was simply an overwhelming pro- 
test against the abuses practised by a confessedly dominant party, 
and the revolution of 1848 was the same, as were the local elec- 
tions of 1854. From 1828 until 1860, the Democratic party was 
the only party that could command a majority of the popular 
vote in a national contest. Although at times defeated, it was 
nevertheless the successful party whenever it did not provoke 
revolt by the abuse of power. 

Since 1860, the country has been Republican in our national 
contests, and a decided majority of the people of the Union are 
Republican in faith to-day. But as in 1840, and again in 1848, 
and again in 1860, the prostitution of party power by those who 
have seized the dominant organization, has made forbearance no 
longer possible ; and we are about to take a new national depar- 
ture by the co-operation of patriotic citizens without regard to 
past differences, and the pampered placemen and money-changers 
who have robbed the Republican temple of its purity and its no- 
ble purposes, will be hopelessly overthrown. (Applause.) Let 
me review some of the chief elements of Republican power, and 
the manner in which the power is employed. The Republican 
organization of to-day is no more the organization that trium- 
phed in '64, '66 and '68, than was the French army at Sedan the 
army of Solfereno. Corruption in leadership, high and low, and 
the usurpation that sacrifices confidence, respect and discipline, 
made the eagles of France trail in the dust, although illustrious 
with the achievements of the past, and like corruption and usur- 
pation have sacrificed the best political organization ever created 

by the necessities of our free institutions. 
3 



/ 



T learn from the newspapers that I am partly or fractionally 
committed to the support of Grant in this campaign, and that I 
owe divided or double political allegiance. I am a long time 
member of the Union League, and I see by an account of what 
purports to be the action of that body, that we are unanimously 
for Grant. (Laughter.) Hundreds of its members will be sur- 
prised to find that they do not know their own political convic- 
tions or their Presidential preferences, and they may be amused 
as well when they understand that less than one in thirty of the 
members participated in that momentous deliverance. It was a 
happy imitation of the two celebrated tailors of Tooley street, 
London, who held a mass meeting and prefaced their resolutions 
with "We, the people of England," etc. (Laughter.) I would 
not speak irreverently of this important organization, part ot 
which I am myself. We, of the league, do not speak as com- 
mon men, nor do we pass common resolutions — in our own esti- 
mation. (Laughter.) It is wonderful how we have directed 
great events, particularly after their inevitable direction was pal- 
pable. We declared for the reuomination of Lincoln whenever 
his reuomination was secured .beyond a reasonable doubt, and 
thereby Lincoln was made our candidate in 1864. When John- 
son's betrayal of the Republicans was pronounced perfidious by 
the unanimous vote of the Republicans in Congress, we unani- 
mously resolved that the country was betrayed. When Grant, 
after much hesitation, decided that he would prefer the Republi- 
can to the Democratic nomination for President, and his nomin- 
ation was so clearly accomplished that he was without a compet- 
itor, we solemnly declared for Grant, and thereby nominated 
Grant in 1868. (Laughter.) It was therefore eminently proper, 
and due to our own consistency, that as soon as thirty of thirty- 
seven States had unanimously instructed for Grant's reuomina- 
tion, we should at once give proper direction to public sentiment 
on that subject by unanimously declaring that Grant should be 
renominated. We did so, and the question Avas settled — Grant 
is the Republican candidate for 1872. 

It is true that in some of our deliverances we have not been 
altogether fortunate. We once tried to do and say something 
original in politics, and it was a misventure. But what great 
warrior did not lose some battles? What statesman has not 



sometimes erred ? What great element of power has not now 
and then failed in omnipotence? After contributing largely for 
a long time to debauch our politics, we resolved to regenerate 
and rejuvenate our political system. We marshaled our com- 
mittee of fifty in battle array, and notified the scurvy politicians 
by solemn proclamation that we would smash their slates and 
rings, and hereafter make only respectability, according to our 
own high standard, eligible to ofiice. We proclamated, carved 
our canvas-backs, and flashed our wine over the victory we had 
achieved over the small politicians, but by some remarkable 
oversight the rings went on, and the slates went through just as 
before. We then unanimously resolved that politics was no lon- 
ger our mission, the good sense of which startled the community ; 
but as we have now unanimously resolved that we were then 
unanimously mistaken, we have justly escaped the hasty suspi- 
cion that years and experience had brought us wisdom. (Shouts 
of laughter.) 

We had great expectations from the present administration. 
We had given freely of our money and respectability— what we 
most possessed — for houses, endowments and status for the Pres- 
ident, and not less than a score of us expected to go into the 
Cabinet, and as many were confident of Foreign Missions. We 
dined the man we had made President in our inner circle, but 
he was unappreciative. He appointed the only one of us who 
felt and frankly admitted that he had no fitness for the place, 
(laughter) and our expected missions wandered hither and thither, 
flitting by us like the mists of the morning. But we were not 
always to be neglected. After everybody else had got what they 
wanted, a second-class mission was awarded us, and the winter 
of our discontent was made glorious summer. (Laughter.) We 
banqueted, resolved and proclaimed that, while none of us 
wanted office, we were nevertheless most thankful for any small 
favors in that line, and hopeful that they would multiply. We 
now favor a re-organization of the Cabinet and diplomatic corps 
under the next terra, and will be likely to hit the mark about 
where we missed it before. (Laughter.) 

And we have even gone farther. We proposed to take the 
Vice-Presidency, but our slate never reached the measure of im- 
portance that entitled it to be smashed. We had a very classi- 



6 

cal essay prepared, and published in the journal of our honored 
President, demonstrating to a mathematical certainty, I am told, 
that Pennsylvania must have the candidate for Vice President. 
In order that the public might ascertain that such an essay had 
been printed, it was carefully advertised by abstract through the 
Associated Press. It is said that it did not name the honored 
son of our State who should go on the ticket to carry Grant 
through — the constitutional modesty of the President of our 
League forbidding that the name should be given in full in his 
own paper. (Laughter.) When the rumor reached the people 
that the second office was to be claimed for Pennsylvania, but 
one name leaped from their hearts to their lips, and that was an 
unwelcome one. Absence and distance had failed to make them 
forgetful of the cherished leader whose tall plume had been their 
battle-flag when they struggled for their soldiers, their homes 
and their country. (Cheers for Curtin.) Finding that we could 
not get the Vice-Presidency, we unanimously resolved not to 
take it, and the convention very cordially agreed not to give it 
to us. (Laughter.) The Pennsylvania delegation to the conven- 
tion was subjected to various pressures of venality and ambition 
on the Vice- Presidency, but the only thing they could agree 
upon was that her delegation was eminent mainly for befouling 
her own people. In caucus Mr. McMichael recited his newspaper 
essay in favor of a Penns\ Ivunian, but again forgot to name the 
man, and a remarkable coincidence was that everybody else for- 
got to name the man he expected to have named. (Laughter.) 
My worthy friend McMichael forgot to suggest McMichael, and 
the name seems not to have occurred to anybody else. Finally, 
in despair, the delegation resolved to go for Wilson. Our justly 
honored President of the League made a speech reflecting the 
decision of the delegation. It was as logical as brilliant. Its 
eloquent and impassioned sentences proved conclusively that 
Pennsylvania should have the Vice-Presidency, and could have 
the Vice-Presidency, and that only in Boston had the proposition 
been met with sneers and derision ; therefore, in vindication of 
the conceded claims of Pennsylvania, and to resent the insolence 
of Boston newspapers, he nominated Henry Wilson, of Massa- 
chusetts, for the position. (Laughter.) It was once said that 
the two greatest men Pennsylvania had ever produced were Ben- 



jarain Franklin, of Boston, and Albert Gallatin, of Geneva; 
(laughter) and Mr. McMichael had doubtless remembered it, and 
as Pennsylvania was now undisputably entitled to the Vice-Pres- 
idency, he borrowed a Massachusetts statesman to fill the bill. 
(Laughter.) Of course he complained about it, as he had a 
right to do, and as our wounded League pride required; but his 
complaints were confined solely to the strictly confidential col- 
umns of his own journal. "The petty selfishness of factious 
cliques " was declared to be the great obstacle to our "more hon- 
orable ambition" in the matter, and, of course, we of the League 
had to defer. The "factious cliques" rule our roast, our "more 
honorable ambition" must foot the bills, and the Rings will get 
away with the honors, as heretofore. (Laughter.) 

But I must be just to the Ring managers. They do not 
wholly ignore us at the League. It is true that they don't allow 
us either to get offices or to have any voice in deciding who shall 
enjoy the emoluments of the party. But they are not unmindful 
of our great importance in politics. They allow us to contribute 
the money to keep up a horde of professional politicians ; they 
allow us to ratify their nominations, and furnish the fire-works 
and wine and suppers to their orators, while they prepare and 
read the resolutions especially endorsing their favorites on the 
ticket; and they even allow us always to have the president and 
a small regiment of vice-presidents at all the ratifications. Our 
most estimable brother Carey, of the League, can always get 
a presidency, and the Bories, the Fells, the Claghorns, and the 
whole list of our first-class brethren can see their names in the 
newspapers as officials at the gatherings of the people, just as 
often as a doubtful ticket wants an endorsement. (Laughter.) 
All we have to do is not to interfere with the plans of the Ring 
for Governor and other important State offices, to let them have 
the Row offices, the Councils, the Mayor, the police, the various 
trusts without any sort of public accountability, and the legisla- 
tors, to enable them to keep what they have got and get as much 
more as they can, and all the rest we of the League can have. 
We can have an ornamental position now and then, such as del- 
egate to the Constitutional Convention, and enjoy the supreme 
felicity of ratifying, footing the bills, and claiming for ourselves 
the credit of having given success to the great Republican partv. 



8 

(Laughter.) It is true that occasionally a sore-headed brother 
becomes erratic enough to imagine that we of the League have 
become a mere tail to the kite of the Rings; but what of that? 
Sublimity in politics, social science, or religion, will always pro- 
voke growlers, and the League will go on its good work of de- 
nouncing Rings and corruption in general, and electing Ring 
tickets in particular, until the end of both shall come. (Applause.) 

Does any one doubt the truth of what I say relative to the rule 
of the Rings? If so, let him scan the local tickets declared 
nominated this day for the important Row offices, and especially 
for the Legislature. The people of Philadelphia, of all parties, 
most anxiously desire reform, and in the next Legislature the 
battle is to be fought. Who of the Legislative candidates repre- 
sent the wishes of the people ? What notorious corruptionists 
have been discarded, and what honest and competent candidates 
substituted? I care little for the Row candidates. We shall 
make them impotent to defraud and oppress the public, or to de- 
bauch future elections, before the next Legislature closes ; — (ap- 
plause) — but what honest citizen can advocate the majority of 
the legislative nominations without bringing the blush of shame 
to his cheeks? And these are called Republican candidates, and 
it is called Republican duty to support them. For one, I shall 
not inquire what a man is, or has been, politically, in the effort 
to defeat such men, but will, with thousands of others, give an 
earnest support to honest and independent candidates, no matter 
how or by whom presented. (Applause.) 

There are unmistakable signs of dissolution in the Republican 
ranks, marshaled by the desperate office holders and expectants. 
They have prostituted a great party, whose record is one of the 
brightest in the annals of the Republic, to mere personal ambi- 
tion and selfish aggrandizement, until its better people revolt at 
its corruption and dishonor. Here and there are brave men who 
cling to the Republican achievements of the past, and, with 
warning voice, remain on the deck of the once famous old Re- 
publican ship. Among them is Colonel Forney. He pipes to 
the Rings, but they will not dance, and he mourns at Washing- 
ton, but they will not weep. (Laughter.) He has protested un- 
til his protests are regarded by the defiant Ring masters as the 
standing political jokes of the day. He has again and again 



9 

served notice that he would bolt next time afrainst tlie Rins; ticket, 
but they were within the Kepublican battlements, were under the 
Republican flag, their Ring men were regular Republican candi- 
dates, and Forney had to tire either into the enemy or squarely 
into his own camp, and overthrow the party in overthrowing the 
placemen who seized the Republican temple. He has thus been 
compelled to support Ring tickets from year to year., and ever 
swearing he would ne'er consent, consented. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) He has sincerely struggled for Republican success by 
Republican reform, but he could just as hopefully whistle jigs to 
a milestone as attempt to enforce reform in the Republican party 
as it is now controlled and organized. He revolted at the action 
of the State Convention, as did tens of thousands in the State, 
only to find his counsels unheeded and his complaints derided. 
He exposed the arrogance of petty, unscrupulous office-holders 
in usurping the important representative positions of the party, 
and they laughed and jeered as usual. He called for a remission 
of the appointment of delegates to the National Convention 
back to the people; and instanced the fact that while Bunn was 
a delegate, Fitler was the alternate (laughter.) He had for- 
gotten that Bunn was the true type of the controlling elements 
of the party, and that he silenced all expostulation when he was 
elected by declaring that he was quite as good a man as the can- 
didate he was to vote for. (Shouts and laughter.) And had Colo- 
ney Forney succeeded in getting the selection of delegates re- 
manded back to the poeple, under the black-jacks of the Ring 
rounders and the protection of the police, we should have had 
the dominant elements of the party fitly represented in the Con- 
vention. Johnny Ward, prize-fighter and policeman, would 
doubtless have been a delegate, with probably President McMi- 
chael, of the Union League, as alternate. (Shouts and laughter.) 
Philip Arnold, policeman and repeater, would have been another 
delegate, with Henry C. Carey as alternate (laughter.) Tim 
Reilly, Custom House officer and scieneed repeater, would have 
been another, with Horace Binney as alternate (laughter); and 
Colonel Forney might have got in as alternate behind Ban Red- 
ding, of repeating and rounder fame. (Laughter and applause.) 
But they paid no lieed to the demand, and proceeded to make 
up the State Committee as they did everything else, mainly of 



10 

office-holding Ring-masters. Forney expostulated, but the more 
he has signalled danger the more he is distrusted and denounced. 
He sees that the ship is rocking in the tempest and certain to go 
down unless something can be done to save it. In but one thing 
they agree with him. All admit that there is a Jonah on board, 
but each insists upon throwing all but himself and Jonah into 
the troubled political sea. Forney would seize Cameron as the 
Jonah, while the Ring managers would offer Forney to propitiate 
the waves. (Laughter.) Indeed, everj'^ one but the real Jonah 
has been in danger of sacrifice, and all are so blind or obstinate 
that they can't or won't see that had Grant been thrown over- 
board, the tempest might have been calmed and the ship started 
with some prospect of a safe voyage. 

On every side the same admonition is heard, but it falls upon 
unwilling ears and is unheeded. A portion of the Republican 
press revolt at Hartrauft because they allege him to be the crea- 
ture of jobbers. Other Republican journals toss Allen over- 
board because they allege that he won't even be honest once 
in a while for the sake of novelty or reference ; and still others 
repudiate White because he is charged with being all of the 
knave that a man can be who is a fool as well, (Laughter.) 
I am not accufing these men, and do not charge that what is said 
of them is true, but I point to the extraordinary exhibitions of 
revolt and disruption on the threshold of a Presidential canvass, 
as clearly foreshadowing the utter overthrow of the selfish and 
corrupt rule that has seized upon the Republican organization of 
the State and nation. (Applause.) 

The National Convention came, and was well attended. Every 
leading department at Washington, every revenue district, and 
every prominent post office were faithfully represented. (Laugh- 
ter.) The carpet-baggers came fresh from the States they had 
confiscated and desolated, under the protection of enforcement 
bills, martial law, and bayonets, and were enthusiastic for Grant. 
One term more of centralized government at Washington will 
satiate their appetites, for when the credit and resources of the 
South are devoured, their mission will be ended. The colored 
carpet-baggers v/ho came in loving embrace with their pale-faced 
tutors in debauchery, pledged the enfranchised race to sustain 
them in their work of impoverishing the home of the colored 



11 

laborer. Cameron sent his delegation from Pennsylvania, Conk- 
litii? senthis from New York, and Morton sent his from Indiana, 
and they were all for Grant. Butler marshalled New England, 
and Chandler atid Carpenter issued their orders to the ofhce-hold- 
ers of the West, and all were for Grant. Each left smothered 
volcanoes at home, and the feast was more notable for the absent 
than for the present. There was no one from New England to 
speak for Sumner (applause); there was none from New York to 
speak for Fenton; none from the West to speak for Schurz and 
Trumbull and Palmer (applause); there was none from Pennsylva- 
nia to speak fov Curtin (cheers and applause); and there was none 
from the whole South to speak for the Southern people. The 
work assigned to the convention by the administration was 
promptly done, and a platform, mainly of double-foced generali- 
ties, was devised and adopted. It will be proclaimed as for Pro- 
tection in Pennsylvania and as for Free Trade in the West, and 
each will be equally well sustained by the resolution. They 
eulogized the ''glorious record of the past" made by the Repub- 
lican party, and in the name of the imperishable monuments 
reared by its honest men in its honest days, they ask that the cor- 
ruptionists who now rule it shall be perpetuated in power. They 
declare for political equality which none now dispute, and for civil 
service reform which they persistently and boastingly repudiate in 
practice. They denounce grants to corporations, in the face of 
the continued passage of such measures by a Republican Con- 
gress, and their approval by the President they nominated for re- 
election. They promise additional bounties to soldiers, but with 
supreme power in all the departments of the Government, they 
have not granted them. They pronunce in favor of protecting 
Americans citizenship everywhere, just what the administration 
has obstinately refused to do until Congress compelled it; and 
the franking privilege is denounced in a platform by men who 
steadily defeat its abolition in Congress. They insult labor and 
capital by a meaningless declaration that is "good God, good 
devil," so that they vote right, and they made the plundering ad- 
venturers who are now sojourning in the South jubilant by a 
square approval of bayonet rule and the suspension of civil au- 
thority. They recommend the revival of American commerce and 
ship-building, in the ftice of the fact that the policy of the admin- 



12 

istration has destroyed both. It was natural that they shouhi try 
to defraud protectionists and free-traders, soldiers, citizens of for- 
eign birth, labor and capital, but they should have spared their 
mothers, wives and sisters from an awkward insult and attempted , 
fraud. They view with satisfaction the '-admission to wider 
fields of usefulness" of the loyal women of the country, and 
promise to treat with "respectful consideration" the "honest d'e- 1 
mands of any class of citizens for additional rights." (Laugh- ' 
ter.) They certainly calculated that such a resolution would 
never get through the chignons of the ladies, and that they must 
accept it as they would a "duck of a bonnet." (Shouts of 
laughter.) 

If they meant that women should vote, it would have been 
honest to say so. If they meant that she should have equal 
claims upon the various official positions for which she is con- 
fessedly adapted, and that fair wages should be paid for an hon- 
est day's work without discrimination of sex, it would have been 
manly to speak the truth. But all that struggling, earnest, hon- 
est women want is omitted, and all that is given could be said by 
the Sultan of Turkey as truthfully as it was said by the conven- 
tion. (Laughter.) If there is anything that the platform don't 
try to cheat, I cannot just now recall it, and if it succeeds in its 
chief purpose of cheating the people of the Union, they must 
have "learned dumber" with astonishing rapidity within the last 
year or two. (Laughter and applause.) 

With the delegates who came to do the bidding of power, 
came also the distinguished orators of the party, and they were 
certainly all scriptural in one respect, for all with one accord be- 
gan to make excuses for the administration. (Laughter.) Mor- 
ton was assigned the Herculean task of defending or excusing 
the shameless nepotism of the President, and he did as well as 
could be expected under the circumstances. lie reasoned 
hypothetically on the principle that a battery that can't be stormed 
must be flanked, if possible. He supposed an unsupposable case, 
and then reared his apologetic argument upon the false premises. 
He indignantly asked why a competent, and worthy, and needy 
relative of the President might not be appointed to ofiice, as well 
as the relative of somebody else, but he forgot to mention the 
particular relative of the President who is competent and worthy. 



13 

[t was the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. (Laughter.) 
The omission of the distinguished Senator was certainly not for 
s^ant of numbers of the President's relatives in office, for if there 
ire any left out, the nation has never heard of them. (Laughter.) 
[judge that the list of known relatives must have been exhaus- 
ted when we wanted the President to give us a day to the unveil- 
ing of the statue of Lincoln in the park. He answered from 
Lebanon that he would have been most happy to visit Philadel- 
phia to do honor to the memory of Lincoln, but for the fact that 
he was just then in search of some relatives he had not seen for 
thirty-five years. (Laughter and applause.) I infer that the 
earch was unsuccessful, for I do not know of any important ap- 
pointments conferred upon the family since that time. But of 
those then and still in office. Senator Morton should have tried 
to instance at least one who could be classed as competent and 
vvorthy; but he failed to do so, and his argument necessarily 
failed. He wanted no platform, renewed his apology or excuse 
for martial law and bayonet rule in time of peace, and returned 
to Washington to tiud that a Itepublican Congress was ready to 
repudiate the imperialism he had crowded through a convention 
of dependants. (Applause.) But he did not return from the 
convention without his trophies. He bore with him the scalp of 
Colfax, the rival whom he would destroy because Indiana has 
ever sustained him ; and with bayonets triumphant in the platform, 
and his dangerous rival slain, he hastened back to the capital to 
find his bayonets rejected by Congress, his State alienated from 
his cause, and his own high office hurled beyond his reach by his 
victory of despotism, jealousy and hate. (Applause.) 

Losran came tierv as the untamed steed, and with martial bear- 
ings and studied eloquence he boldly defied his consistant 
utterances of the last two years. Washington has resounded 
with his tireless denunciation of the nepotism, incompetency, and 
vindictive malice of the President; and thousands, more slow to 
believe but more faithful to themselves and to truth, have learned 
from him that only bj"- a change of administration can we secure 
an honest and honored government. The President accused him 
of ambition beyond his merits when a candidate for Senator be- 
fore the Illinois Legislature, and opposed his election. Logan 
accused the President of unfitness for power, and defeated the 



14 

aiministration by his triumph. I concede that both were proba- 
bly right, (laughter and applause,) and I will do both the justice 
to say that neither has changed his opinion, however they may 
appear in the play. Logan taught Republicans that the Cincin- 
nati Convention was a necessity, and until it nominated another 
than Logan, his wrath was directed solely against Grant. But 
a few weeks before he came here with his series of apologies for 
the President, he had aided in preparing an appeal to the soldien; 
of the country to resist Grant's election. His brave companions of 
the field who started with him in the eftbrt to redeem a nation from 
despotic misrule are still at the front, while he has gone to the 
rear to revel in the baggage train. Has Grant, in so short a 
period, become a better man? or has Logan fallen to the low 
estate of his despised ruler? (Applause.) That he should have 
ready excuses for his newly accepted chieftain will surprise no 
one. He apologized, defended and extenuated with the ardor of 
the orator; but who believed the teacher or accepted his faith? 
The brilliant Oglesby gave us polished rhetoric with all of West- 
ern earnestness and skill, but while he promised success, he trem- 
bled for his own candidacy and State — until now the banner Re- 
publican State west of the Alleghenies. With them were lesser 
lights of every shade and type, from the heroes of New York 
Custom frauds, to those who spoke for the skeletons of States 
they are still dissecting in the South, and when all had made their 
excuses, their work was finished. (Applause.) 

There was enthusiasm to order, but the cheers which went up 
from the multitude of the dependants of power died out when 
they reached the people, as the surging wave subsides against the 
rock-ribbed shore. When the calm came, the pebble flung by 
the humblest citizen upon the surface of the political sea sent 
widening and growing billows to toss the ship of State, and dan- 
ger was signalled by the captains who had just told us of the 
prosperous voyage before them. The Mortons and Logans who 
returned to the Senate fresh from the triumphs of Philadelphia, con- 
fessed that the people dare not be trusted to decide this election. 
Li violation of parliamentary law, and in utter contempt of all 
civil authority, the Senate amended the Civil Appropri n bill 
by inserting in it the revolutionary Enforcement act. i extended 
the supreme power of office-holders and bay . . oo; w 



15 

tion precinct in the United States, and under its provisions the 
imperialism of the New World could have taught despotic Eu- 
rope how the will of the people may be defied under the color of 
free institutions. It was practically repeating the declaration of 
Louis XTV — "I am the State!" It was more daring imperialism 
than that by which the ba3'onets of France twice reared the Em- 
pire of the Napoleons by the mockery of the ballot. All other 
amendments were ruled out of order. Bayonets were wanted; 
but civil rights, just pronounced for in the platform, were tossed 
to the winds as needless cargo in the tempest. Earnest and 
patriotic men of both parties contested this wanton attempt to 
subvert popular liberty; but through a whole weary night the 
administration Senators kept faithful vigil, and at last crowned 
their disgrace by success. To the lasting honor of a Republican 
House, directly representing the people, it may be said that it 
braved the lash of power and defeated the measure! While 
many yielded a most reluctant support to an enforced party 
policy, there were others who revolted, and returned the bill to a 
committee of conferene, with the assurance that the administra- 
tion Senators would recede from their mad, revolutionary work, 
and that no parliamentary rights of the opposition should be 
sacrificed by the proceeding; but it was returned without material 
change. Then came individual dishonor to the support of national 
humiliation. The new imperialism was to die in its swaddling- 
clothes or live by treachery and fraud, and men who hope to be 
esteemed honorable by the country surrended their integrity and 
their patriotism upon the altar of political despotism. Butler and 
Bingham demanded the overthrow of popular rights to perpetuate 
debauched party rule, and the trick that would have disgraced a 
bandit leader was on the very threshold of accomplishment when 
a brave and beloved son of Pennsylvania, rising to the full stature 
of the manhood of statesmanship, crushed the conspirators and 
their despotism by his eloquent protest against both national and 
individual dishonor. (Prolonged applause.) Had Judge Kelley 
(cheers) been unknown to the country until then, his patriotic 
demand for honesty and law would have nationalized his fame. 
But, happily, he brought an unsullied national reputation to the 
task he assumed, and he silenced the jeers and insults of discom- 
fited revolutionists by the homely truth that, for such ofienses. 



16 

he had in times past, in the name of the law, placed the seal of 
the felon upon men. When one bold man, thrice armed by a 
just cause, raised his voice against the violent enactment of more 
violent legislation, none dared to censure. In malignant frenzy 
a few struggled madly with fate, but the House and the nation 
will ever honor William D. Kelley for saving the first from a 
measureless depth of disgrace and the last from a measureless 
sweep of lawlessness. (Applause.) 

Thus the men who built and boasted in Philadelphia returned 
to Washington to witness the corner-stone torn from the founda- 
tion of their structure by a Republican Congress, and they stand 
confessedly defeated by their own record. (Applause.) Every 
assault and appliance known to desperate power were exhausted 
to compass the prostitution of the popular branch of the Govern- 
ment to the extraordinary necessities of the administration. Its 
supporters demanded the right to suspend the laws at pleasure, 
and they did not conceal that the power was absolutely essential 
to control the re-election of the President. The Senate, removed 
from the voice of the people, forced the measure through, but a 
House of the same political fjdth, soon to return to the people for 
judgment upon its record, rejected the measure in repeated trials, 
and preserved to the nation the sanctity and supremacy of civil 
authority. This twin sister of despotism came also in the shape 
of the suspension of the Writ of Right, with the approval of an 
obedient Senate. It was pressed upon the House in the name of 
the administration as a supreme political necessity; as involving 
the success or defeat of the President. It was admitted that his 
rule had not appealed to the virtue, intelligence and patriotism 
of the people; that it had discarded reliance upon popular appro- 
val, and rested its hopes for extended power upon measures which 
would enable it to defy the people, and pervert the ballot. Again 
it failed, and failed without hope. The work of revolutionary 
government is now ended in all the States. The gleam of the 
bayonet will not libel our free institutions at the polls. The civil 
laws will be supreme everywhere, and the sacred Writ of Right 
will be at hand to protect the humblest citizen from the dictation of 
the usurper. Under the banner of peace, of order, of integrity, 
and of the law, Horace Greeley will be chosen our President. 
(Prolonged cheers.) Ripe in statesmanship, conservative in the 
appreciation of administrative duties, faithful to every condition of 
citizenship and to every section of the Union, honest to a measure 
that defies the pen or tongue of malice, and patriotic under every 
trial that has been or can be, he will give us restored brotherhood, 
prosperity, dignity and economy in the administration of the 
Government. Then we shall have peace. (Applause and cheers.) 



"GRANT RULE IN THE SOUTH." 



SPEECH 



OP 



HON.A.K.MCCLURE, 



DELIVERED AT 



Greensboro', North Carolina, 



July 22, 1872. 



I congratulate you, citizens of North Carolina, and I congrat- 
ulate the country, that here in this lirst battle foi* our national 
regeneration, we are to meet all the combined power and ajipli- 
ances of the party of disorder and oppression. I congratulate 
you and the cause of free and honest government, that here all 
the desperation and corruption of the administration managers 
confront us. I welcome to the field the trembling ministers of 
State, who leave their portfolios to excuse and defend their pros- 
titution of power, to defeat the fair expression of your people at 
the ballot box. I rejoice that, after paying to his partisans in 
your State nearly a quarter of a million of dollars for the past 
year, through the Federal marshal, the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury followed the corruption fund himself, to plead for a new 
lease of power for the men in your midst, who, having bank- 
rupted the State, are welcomed to the vaults of the National 
Treasury. It is well that the naked, vengeful arm of power is 
raised in your faces, and that the resources of the General Gov- 
ernment are employed in all their multiplied forms, to make 
North Carolina forgetful of her holiest duties to herself. I am 
thankful, since the bonds of arbitrary power are of the argu- 
ments to be used for administration success, that bonds abound 
among you, and are flaunted before your citizens to coerce them 
into sustaining a national policy, that aims the deadliest blows at 
the very genius of our free institutions. As these are the weap- 
ons of the enemy, and as they are to be met manfully and over- 
thrown triumphantly if we would preserve government of the 
people, let us complain not that here, in this initial struggle of 
the great battle of 1872, usurpation and lawlessness will have no 
reserves for future conflicts. 

It will be a sore trial for the old North State, but it is better 

that it should be so. A few will falter here and there, as they 

are beset by the persuasions of the venal, or intimidated by the 

threats of authority, but for every one that falters or falls there 

will be others, quickened by patriotism and self-preservation, to 

fill up the ranks and inspire the masses of your people to the 
3 



noblest heroism. If failure is possible, we might do worse thaa 
fail now, if thereby the nation shall be taught how the popular 
will is to be subverted in the South to save the administration 
from the retribution it has so boldly challenged. (Applause.) 
T am mindful that in your last appeal to the supreme sovereignty 
of the people, for modifications of your fundamental law, a deci- 
sion in favor of a convention was ostentatiously forbidden by 
the law ofiicer of the national administration. I remember, too, 
that your people did forbear to seek for constitutional restraints 
upon the channels of power which had destroyed your State 
credit and impoverished you, rather than provoke the resent- 
ment of the political demagogues who mould the policy of the 
Government. It was wise then, for you were powerless, and 
your submission was heralded to the country as a victory for the 
party that is now, for the first time, fairly brought to trial face 
to face with your citizens. 

Let us understand and appreciate this contest. Its importance 
is not limited solely to its result, as would be the case in any or- 
dinary preliminary political struggle. Upon the one side defeat 
is annihilation. When the party of power falls, repudiated by 
the people because their authority has been prostituted and abu- 
sed, it falls without hope. It is ever vigilant, active and desper- 
ate. It leaves none of its means unemployed; its supporters are 
tireless in their work, and when they are defeated they must sur- 
render the field. Upon the other side, the vanquished may be 
the victors in November, because palpable corruption, oppres- 
sion, desperation and fraud have overdone their allotted work. 
If the people of North Carolina shall, in face of the exhausting 
eflTorts of bad men in authority, defeat the Grant ticket in Au- 
gust, by multiplied thousands will your verdict be given for lib- 
erty, amnesty and law in November. (Applause.) But if, by 
the relentless exercise of arbitrary power, or by fraud, or by fla- 
grant debauchery, or by all of them, a victory shall be gained by 
the administration, it will but arouse the nation to its hitherto 
unknown perils, and make the political subjugation of a sister 
State the altar upon which usurpation shall immolate itself. 
That the hope of the administration in this contest, rests mainly, 
if not wholly, upon coercing, defrauding and corrupting your 
people, is notorious and even undenied. If allowed to vote as 



they would wish, no one questions that the citizens of North 
Carolina would elect Judge Merriman — (cheers) — their Govenor 
by not less than 20,000 majority. This is confessed by the enemy. 
With the national and State executives in their hands; with 
State and national officials swarming in your midst like the lo- 
custs of Egypt, devouring your substance and bringing dishonor 
upon your Commonwealth ; with presses directed by the depen- 
dants of patronage ; with laws so framed as to give license to 
fraud, and with public money to tempt the cupidity of the im- 
poverished and oppressed, behold the desperation of their lead- 
ers. To meet them the people come single-handed. They con- 
trol no patronage ; have no means to seduce the citizen from his 
duty to himself and to his State ; have no authority whereby to 
intimidate the weak, and no plunder to rally the camp-followers 
to their cause. They appeal to the intelligence, to the virtue, 
and to the patriotism of the people ; and yet the champions of 
revolutionary power tremble for their safety, and meet us each 
day with renewed eftbrts to subvert the popular will. (Applause.) 
I am here to speak in Carolina as I have spoken, and shall 
speak, in the States of the North. I have no language for one 
section of the Union that is not for every section. I have no 
ambiguous platform to interpret in accord with conflicting con- 
victions in difierent localities. I have no candidates whose opin- 
ions are, in any sense, concealed, restrained, or of double mean- 
ing. I am here to speak for the disenthralment of North Caro- 
lina ; (cheers) for the restoration of her people to self-govern- 
ment; for equal rights, privileges and laws for every class of her 
citizens ; for amnesty to those who are still monuments of the 
vengeance of war; for honesty, economy and statesmanship in 
her local government, and for peace, prosperity and safety to all. 
(Applause.) I am here to speak for the Union of these States, 
and for the brotherhood of all their people. (Cheers.) I am 
here to speak for the election of Horace Greeley (protracted 
cheers) to the Chief Magistracy of our re-united and redeemed 
Republic. I am here to plead for free government, the hunger- 
cry of the nation. North and South, East and West. I am here 
to demand the supremacy of the laws, and of all the laws, in 
every section of the country, and to demand obedience to them 
alike by rulers and citizens. I am here to proclaim that we are 



at peace with each other, that the scars of war shall be healed, 
that its passions must yield to fraternal efforts for the common 
welfare, and that the laws of war shall pass away. I am here to 
re-echo the solemn verdict of the Republican popular branch of 
Congress, that revolutionary legislation no longer blots our stat- 
ute books, (applause) and to assure those who have felt the iron 
heel of misrule, that henceforth every citizen of the Union, in 
every section, of every condition, race and faith, is free to dis- 
charge every duty of patriotism, and will be sustained in his ef- 
forts for self-government by the overwhelming sentiment of the 
Northern people. (Cheers.) I am^fiere to protest against mili- 
tary rule, not only in the South, but in Pennsylvania, where the 
gleam of the bayonet has been tried to make our elections a 
mockery and a fraud. And I am here to declare and defend the 
individual manhood of every citizen against political ostracism, 
military usurpation, and all the abuses of depraved authority. 
(Applause.) 

The issues which divided the North and the South belong to 
the past. They have written their history in the deeply crim- 
soned pages of our common heroism. The sword became the 
arbiter between us, and its inexorable decrees have been execu- 
ted. The logical results of the war are written ineffiiceably in 
our amended Constitution. The bondman is now the political 
peer of his master, and the political equality of the learned and 
the lowly will endure while the Republic of the New World lives 
to bless mankind. The dead of the conflict mingle their dust 
together, as the}^ sleep in the peace that is never broken, and 
every household in the land has been stricken by the Angel of 
Sorrow. To the South came defeat and desolation, to the North 
came triumph and wealth. Had we been aliens to each other, 
the harvest of hate would have been lessened ; but being broth- 
ers, quickened by the same blood, proud of the same ancestry 
and achievements, devoted to the same form of government, and 
sharing the independence baptized by the sacrifice of our fathers, 
our estrangement drank the cup of bitterness to its dregs. That 
the South struggled to escape the harsh lessons of the sword, 
when overborne in the field, was natural, and that the North 
yielded not until the fountains of discord were forever sealed, 
was a duty to the living and to the dead. How wisely it was 



done those who come after us will better judge than we can. 
However intensified by the profound passions of civil war, the 
mass of the Northern people were honest and just in their pur- 
poses, and they sought public safety — not vengeance. They 
dreaded a possible renewal of the old conflict, and they defeated 
the Democracy four years ago, because they deemed the final ac- 
ceptance of even defective reconstruction as infinitely preferable 
to perpetual struggle and consequent disorder. To the national 
verdict of 1868 the South bowed manfully. It left no material 
issue unsettled, and the South justly claimed that sincere sub- 
mission should restore its people to government and peace. 
Their fields were waste, their wealth consumed, their resources 
destroyed, their system of industry violently uprooted, and they 
asked only for self-government to enable them to restore their 
enero-ies and contribute to the wealth of the nation. This has 
been denied them. Their States had become the prey of adven- 
turers, exceptional in civilized history for incompetency and mis- 
rule. Wherever their hands have fallen, public credit has with- 
ered, hopeless debt has been created, and oppression and plunder 
have prevailed. (Applause.) 

It was confidently hoped by good men of both sections that 

the election of General Grant would restore the country to good 

government and peace. He was not beloved by the nation. He 

repelled the enthusiasm that the people award to favorite heroes 

or statesmen ; but he was the great Captain of the war, and his 

distinguished services were most gratefully appreciated. He had 

not only been a gallant and successful commander, but he had 

been magnanimous beyond the approval of his countrymen when 

the flag of rebellion was furled. Had he obeyed the dictates of 

passion, he would have won louder plaudits for a time ; but he 

was just as he was brave, and he turned back the surges of hate 

from the field of his triumph. The North soon rejoiced that he 

had been generous at Appomattox, and his subsequent official 

report vouching for the fidelity of the Southern people, made 

North and South confide in his patriotism and justice. And 

when called upon to accept the candidacy for the Presidency, one 

simple, unaflected utterance touched the chord of the popular 

heart from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the 

Gulf. "Let us have Peace !" were the magic words which made 



8 

up the Republican battle-cry ui that hard-fought contest. All 
issues were subordinated to the one great question of advancing 
to the full measure of peaceful and fraternal government. On 
the one side, there was the threat of revolution, or, at least, of 
violent disturbance of the policy of reconstruction ; and on the 
other side there was the promise of concord and obedience to 
the laws. It was the last struggle before the tribunal of last re- 
sort for a modification or reversal of reconstruction, and to the 
decision all parties yielded and claimed the fruition of peace. 
(Applause.) 

The one solemn promise of peace was the crown of the new 
ruler that the people had decked with greenest laurels. It in- 
volved every want of the nation. It involved not only honest, 
representative Federal Government, but honest, representative 
Government in all the States as well. It demanded amnesty, 
political equality, and the free exercise of all the prerogatives of 
citizenship in every section. It gave assurance of economy and 
fidelity in all the channels of political power, and not only vic- 
tors, but many of the vanquished, rejoiced that the cruel mission 
of war was ended. But soon the shadows of disappointment 
began to cloud the hopes of the people, i^he victorious General 
was unschooled and unskilled in statesmanship, and he failed to 
distinguish between the duties of the hero and the civil ruler. 
But still deeper clouds thickened over the high hopes of patriotic 
men as caricatures of statesmen, without ability and unknown 
to fame, save as the authors of lavish gifts to the President, were 
called to the high places due only to the first intellects of the 
country. Such a voluntary offering to the Mortons, the Came- 
rons, the Chandlers, the Conklings, the Butlers and the Holdens, 
was promptly and joyfully accepted. With incompetency ruling 
in every department, and the pride and obstinacy which are its 
natural offspring enthroned everywhere, the statesman and the 
unselfish of the land could make only fruitless efforts to save the 
administration. N'one but camp followers and demagogues could 
make themselves welcome advisers, for he who was intelligent 
and truthful gave ofi"ense. The field was soon surrendered by 
those who hoped for good government, and the reign of dema- 
gogues was supreme. They knew well that they could not per- 
petuate their rule by the honest expression of the popular will. 



They knew that every honest administration, IlTorth and South, 
was a standing menace and an uncompromising foe to their pol- 
icy and authority. They then resolved upon systematic violence, 
debauchery and fraud to re-elect Grant, and renew their lease of 
power for another term. Instead of appealing to the intelligence 
and patriotism of the country, as an honest and enlightened ad- 
ministration would have done, they had to invent a policy that 
would save them from popular reprobation by denying the na- 
tion a free election. They found ready and willing instruments 
for their purpose in the South. It swarmed with carpet-baggers, 
who filled all the official places, and created as many more for 
their associates as their ingenuity could invent. They were joined 
by a few of your own people in their schemes of peculation and 
destruction, but by none who could justly claim self-respect or 
public confidence. (Applause.) Had Grant been intelligent and 
honest, he would have exhausted his official authority to restore 
the South to order and prosperity ; but whether he is to be ex- 
cused for incompetency, or charged with deliberate complicity 
in the unexampled wrongs of your State rulers, the fact stands 
out in painful, undisputed prominence, that his power has been 
openly and uniformly wielded for the protection and perpetua- 
tion of the oppressors of the Southern States. Men as charac- 
terless as they were tireless in their fiendish work, hesitated not 
at perjury to furnish excuse for the revolutionary policy of the 
administration leaders, and laws more violent than were enacted 
in the darkest days of the war, were framed, passed and approved 
to resist the restoration of your States to the control of their own 
people. The public thief, protected by the mailed arm of arbi- 
trary authority, Would provoke breaches of the peace through 
his creatures, more ignorant and less cowardly than himself, 
knowinff well that he could invoke martial law to save him from 
the just consequences of his crimes. A double purpose was 
thus served. An excuse was affijrded for the most insolent defi- 
ance of the popular will, and reports of the disorder, made up by 
the wrong-doers themselves, were flashed to the uttermost ends 
of the country, to inflame the North against your State. (Ap- 
plause.) 

For a time the policy of deliberate lawlessness and oppression 
was most successful North and South; but the people at the 



10 

North are intelligent, and party prejudices were unequal to the 
task of rejecting the truth. Notwithstanding the efforts of the 
creatures of power, and of power itself, to conceal the truth from 
the country, the muttering thunders of Northern sentiment de- 
manded the policy of peace for the South. But every Republi- 
can journal or politician whose utterance was in behalf of justice 
was threatened with party disfavor, and new and more violent 
means were demanded to neutralize the honest expressions in the 
North, and make the re-election of Grant safe by disfranchising 
the people.(^j^hree grand schemes were matured by the combined 
villainy and craft of the administration managers. They were 
designed to control the election, pay all expenses, and afford large 
margins to the leaders. The telegraphs were to be possessed by 
the Government, by the waste and plunder of millions, and thus 
TDrovide means for the campaign, and control every channel of 
immediate communication with the press and between the peo- 
ple. The approval of the Executive and proper Cabinet officert 
was readily obtained, and the party lash was to do the rest. St. 
Domingo had disgracefully failed, and its disappointed specula- 
tors were eager for the spoils and the power of the telegraph 
swindle. But it failed, and, like St. Domingo, failed in dishonor. 
The unscrupulous leaders were astounded at the independence 
of Northern Tiepublican sentiment, and they had to confess them- 
selves overthrown. (Applause). But one failure made them and 
their cause only the more desperate, and the country was soon 
startled with the proposition to place nominally in the hands of the 
President, but really in the hands of Holden and Scott, and Bul- 
lock, and their companions in crime, the power to suspend all 
civil authority in the South at pleasure, and substitute the bay- 
onet for the ballot at your elections. Had this scheme prevailed, 
not one of the States south of the Virginias and Kentucky would 
•have been allowed a free expression of the people in the coming 
elections, and the electoral votes of your States would have been 
captured at the point of the sword. But, in utter consternation, 
the leaders heard the tempest of Northern protest, and the popu- 
lar branch of Congress, on repeated trials, rejected the revolu- 
tionary leaders and their scheme by Republican votes. (Cheers.) 
Then came the Grant National Convention, and an interchange 
of hopes and fears impressed all with the probability of defeat. 



11 

The only straight-forward, honest plank of the platform is that de- 
manding military instead of lawful elections in the South. Armed 
with the party deliverance in favor of the overthrow of all civil 
authority wherever necessary, the leaders hastened back to the 
capital, and in defiance of all parliamentary law, plunged the En- 
forcement act into the Civil Appropriation bill. An obedient 
Senate did its work; but the Republicans of the House were 
about to return to their constituents for approval, and they hurled 
back their protest into the very teeth of power, and taught the 
Executive and his managers that the people, in every section, 
shall do their own voting this year. (Cheers and applause.) 

We have had a bloody war to overthrow the old doctrine of 
States rights. It had been enlarged until our common nationality 
was held to be the mere mockery of a government, and power- 
less to maintain its unity or authority. But in making countless 
sacrifice to dethrone one political heresy, we cannot accept the 
equally dangerous and more despotic heresy of personal rule, or 
centralization. (Applause.) In maintaining the paramount au- 
thority of the General Government, the sovereignty of the States, 
in all things consistent with the general welfare, must be sacredly 
maintained. It is so clearly taught in our fundamental law, 
given us by the authors of the Constitution; and the harmony of 
our local and general authorities, under wise and patriotic rulers, 
is a sublime tribute to the excellence of free government. The 
family is the fountain of social order and of law. Its govern- 
ment is sacred, but within the prescribed rules of public morality 
and safety. So is the cummunity to the county, the county to 
the State, and the State to the Union, All are sovereign in their 
appropriate duties, and all are subordinate to the sacred rights 
reserved to each. They are "distinct as the billows, yet one as 
the sea," (applause) and he who would prostitute the sovereignty 
of the State to personal rule, for any purpose, is either wanting 
in intelligence or wanting in patriotism. Let us not fail to appre- 
ciate the chief issue in this contest. The people are to decide 
whether usurpation at pleasure, by an obstinate personal authority, 
shall be the destiny of this country for four years more, or whether 
they shall choose their rulers and maintain self-government — the 
corner-stone of free institutions. It is a most vital question in 
every section of the country, for if the nation shall affirm the theory 



12 

of centralized power, free government is at an end. If elections 
can be controlled by revolutionary laws in part of the country, 
why not in the whole Union ? And if elections are to be the 
mere registers of power, why hold elections at all? But vital as 
the issue is in the North, it involves everything to the South. It 
not only aiFects the general welfare of your people as communi- 
ties and States, but it involves to you immediately, what it does 
to us remotely — individual property, individual honor, and indi- 
vidual safety. And no class, condition, or race can hope to escape 
the inexorable logic of the question. The owners of the fruitful 
fields may endure despotism, but the poor and the lowly must, in 
the fullness of time, reap in tears what they have sown in mis- 
taken trust. 

I have no appeal to make to the prejudices of race. There is 
no intelligent argument to be offered in this struggle that does 
not appeal equally to rich and poor — to the princely landowner 
in his palace and the laborer in his humble cot, and the white 
man and the black man. But while all are interested in the same 
general results, all are not to be alike affected by the baleful 
consequence of bad government. The laborer ever drinks the 
bitterest dregs of misrule. Seed time and harvest will come to 
the proprietors whether there is good or bad government, and 
they can live in comparative comfort; but when the energies and 
progress of a State are prostrated by unjust laws, industry is the 
first to feel the avenging stroke, and the laborer seeks in vain the 
privilege to toil that he may earn his bread. And he who would 
array race against race is the malignant foe of the liberated and 
enfranchised slave. The interests of all classes are identical — 
capital and labor must prosper or decline together here as else- 
where; and a conflict of races can have but one result sooner or 
later. Independent of the disparity in numerical power, those 
who are most fitted to govern will surely govern in the end; and 
those who govern badly, and appeal to prejudices of race to sus- 
tain them, must soon fall, and sacrifice for years the influence 
they should exercise in moulding the policy of the State. 

The attempt to lead the Republican party, by the appliances of 
power, to accept debauchery and despotism as its elements of 
success, created the Cincinnati Convention. It was the solemn 
protest of independent men of the party against the decrees which 



13 

aimed to shackle thought, silence speech, and prohibit action not 
in accord with the dictation of selfish rule. It was the outspoken 
demand of the nation in behalf of self-government and public 
order, (applause) and the nation has obliterated party lines in the 
surely approaching approval of that great work. Its declaration 
of principles, honestly and frankly expressed, made millions ot 
men of all sections, conditions and race, devoted to one true faith 
and to one noble purpose. Two National Conventions, in each 
of which every State was represented, being free from the con- 
tamination of corrupt power, reflected the convictions of the 
people and the supreme wants of the country. And but one 
man could in all respects fitly lead this sublime and invincible 
army of Reform and Peace. There are few North or South 
whom he has not at some time antagonized, and with the 
earnestness of his honest nature. But who has ever questioned the 
integrity, the intelligence, the patriotism of Horace Greeley? 
(Cheers and applause.) He has, in turn, plead the cause of both 
races before me, when they were helpless, and when it required 
the highest measure of courage to brave the prejudices and pas- 
sions of the times. When the now enfranchised black man was 
enslaved in the South and disfranchised in the North, and when 
to speak for him was to invite public derision and contempt, he 
steadily and earnestly advocated the freedom and political equality 
of all men. (Applause.) When Grant was casting his first and 
only Presidential vote for Buchanan, for the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise, and for the approval of the Dred- Scott deci- 
sion, which declared that the black man had no rights the white 
man was bound to respect, Horace Greeley had devoted all the 
vigor of his ripened manhood to give freedom and citizenship 
to the powerless and despised race. In his own State he made 
canvass after canvass, against overwhelming numbers, to make 
suffrage free to all, and in abiding faith he fought the battle to 
the end, and gave it victory. But in the rich wreaths he had 
gathered for himself by his ceaseless efforts for the lowly and 
oppressed, there was no hate or resentment to dim the lustre of 
his achievements. Just when the black man had been secured 
in his freedom, the white men before me were, by that triumph, 
made strangers to their country. Then, when the resentments 
of war were omnipotent with rulers and people, above the black 



14 

tempest of passion was one silver lining to the clound. One 
voice had spoken amidst the anathemas of hate. It was the de- 
mand of Horace Greeley for universal amnesty and suffrage. 
(Cheers and applause.) It cost him many valued friends for a 
eeason, and made him ineligible to the high honors his party had 
decided to confer upon him; but he complained not as he labored 
patiently, earnestly, andhopefully, until the whole nation confessed 
his wisdom and bowed to his philanthrophy. Thus have the 
oppressed of every race and clime ever found in him a friend. It 
has been miscalled humanity. It is his enlightened statesman- 
ship and unfaltering courage in support of the right which have 
thus crowned our free institutions with their noblest triumphs. In 
times of sorest trial to the nation and to any portion of its people, 
he has met every question with dignity, ability and tolerance; 
and when called to the Chief Magistracy — as he soon shall be — 
he will himself, in the discharge of the duties of the highest trust 
conferred upon man, perfect the amnesty he advocated in appar- 
ently hopeless effort when the conflict of arms had ceased. Then 
every citizen of the Republic will understand that at last there 
shall be honest government and peace. (Applause.) 

Citizens of North Carolina, behold your State! It is a swift 
and terrible witness of the truth of what I have taught. The 
recital of the despotism and corruption I have given you is but 
the history of your Commonwealth. It was the cradle of liberty. 
In one of your southern counties the first formal declaration of 
independence ever made on this continent was given to the peo- 
ple. (Applause). Your history is replete with illustrious 
names in the annals of the forum and of the field, and with the 
noblest achievements in war and peace. You were noted for the 
ability and purity of your representative men and of your local 
government. The honor and credit of your State were cherished 
as household gods. The evil days of sectional war came upon 
you, and you ridged the plains and hill-sides of the South with 
the nameless graves of your sons. War ended, and the silver 
wings of peace were welcomed by the remnant of your warriors 
and by your people. But peace came not. All the desolation 
and bereavement of the strife paled before the unspeakable blight 
and degradation that remained in store for you. One of your 
own sons, who had in turn been traitor to every cause, climbed 



15 

into your Gubernatorial chair by violence and fraud, and with 
him came a Legislature and other State officers conspicuous only 
for incapacity and villiany. The highway robber takes only what 
may be restored, but the Holden government robbed North Caro- 
lina of her honor and her credit — the proud patrimony of her 
people. Had they merely plundered the treasury of all they could 
extort from a prostrated and impoverished people, they might 
have been charitably forgotten; but with excessive taxes imposed, 
they have added millions upon millions to your indebtedness, 
without even the pretense of rendering an equivalent. They 
have multiplied officers in every county to oppress your citizens 
and devour their little substance. They have created disorder 
for the double purpose of intimidating your people and plunder- 
ing the national treasury. They have employed perjury to im- 
pose vexatious and humiliating bonds upon many of your best 
men, to silence the popular resentment they so boldly pjrovoked. 
True, a Legislature fresh from the people hurled the chief of 
these unexampled wrongs from his place, with the seal of infamy 
upon his head; but his scarred and blotted monuments will stand 
in your midst as generation after generation execrates his name. 
(Applause.) When you made an earnest effort to throw the safe- 
guard of an amended Constitution around your people, you were 
forbidden to exercise the sovereignty accorded to the people of the 
States: but now the sword is no longer drawn over you, thanks 
to a Republican Congress, and. your peaceable and complete regen- 
eration is in your own hands. Many thousands of dollars have 
been practically stolen from the National Treasury to aid the ene- 
mies of order in this contest. But all the resources of desperate 
authority will be powerless to defeat you if you are faithful and 
vigilant. Millions of your brethren will watch and wait anxiously 
for your verdict in behalf of liberty and law, and other millions 
will wait with trembling for some gleam of hope for the perpet- 
uation of despotism and anarchy. Encompassed as you are by 
such a cloud of witnesses, and with all that is sacred to the citi- 
zen, and all that promises honor and prosperity to your people, at 
stake, let each man resolve that North Carolina shall be redeemed 
to honesty, free government and peace. (Applause.) 



RING RULE IN PHILADELPHIA. 



ITS FOUNTAIN I ITS STREAMS 11 ITS FRUITS III 



® :e^ e: Ei d 3E3: ess* 



Delivered in Odd Fellows' Hall, corner Tenth and South Sts., Philadelphia, 

ON TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 3, 1872. 



I appear before you 1,0-Elglit to discuss Issues of 
the gravest moment to the people ot Philadelphia, 
and Issues which must arrest the attention and in- 
spire the etl'orts of every good riiizen. These ques- 
tions are not Irseparably Interwoven with the sac- 
cess of any of the great political organizations of 
the country. If they were it would be vain to ask 
attention to them now, for national Issues would 
subordinate all considerations of mere local Inte- 
rest. Fortunately, however, party lines are dis- 
carded m earnest efforts to redeem our municipality 
from misrule, and while the vote of the city maj be 
decisively for one narcy or the other, on those can- 
didates who present the test on national 'ssues, the 
people' can guard the purity of the ballot-box, and 
e<ect honest and competent men to such positions 
as more imme»' lately affect 'ocal reform, without 
any prejudice whatever to any national cause. 

IV y position on the Presideuilal question is well 
known, but I am before you this evening to advo- 
cate the cause and the candidates which are sup- 
ported, witti equal earnestness, by many of the most 
c'evoted friends of President Granc. If to demand 
an honest election, to prevent illegal registration, 
to oppose the votes of repea'ers, to enforce a falfh- 
fnl count of the votes cast, to guard against the 
fraudulent alteration of returns, or to vote and 
work for every local candidate who favors thorough 
reform, will endanger the elactlon of my Preslden- 
tiU candidate, his Cuuse can have no just claim 
upon a pattlotic people (app ause) ; and if to do the 
same thing endacgers the success of President 
Grant, his defeat would be a public benefaction. In- 
dependext of any consequences which may result 
politically from such a cour>e of action, 1 mean not 
oQly In this district, but In every <ther ward and 
district of Pnlladelphla, to give my best energies for 
the success of reform candidates for waTd, legis'a- 
tive, and city offices. (Applause.) I will not sap- 
port hopeless tickets unless there Ci»n be no hopeful 
ticket presented by the friends ef municipal and 
legislative reform; hut I shall urge the election of 
candidates for Councils, legislative and city offi- 
ces most favorable to the reg-cneratlon of our local 
govFrnraent, ro matter whether they shall be for 
Greeley or Grant for President. (Applause ) 

In this S>enatorlaI dlBtrlct two parties have pre- 



sented Senator Dechert for-electlon, and botu with 
marked unanimity. After having been nominated 
by the Democrats, the Citizens' Reform Association, 
composed largely of men differing with him on na- 
tional issues, formally named him as their candidate 
and urge his election, because he has given the most 
sa'isfantorv evidence of his consistent devotion to 
reform In Philadelphia. Oaring two sessions of ser- 
vice in the Senate he has uniionnly subordinated 
partisan Interests to the Interests of our long-suffer- 
Ing manlcipalUy. No job has stained his hands. 
No power has been stolen from the people to enrich 
combinations of oad men by his vote. The blot of 
the lobbyist is »ot to be found on his SenatorUl gar- 
ments, and the appeal ot honest citizens of Phila- 
delphia for protection against bad laws, or reilef 
from oppression, has ever found In him a faithful 
champion. (Cheers.) That he has accomplished but 
little in guarding your people and your treasury from 
the assaults of the corrupt, is explained by the su- 
premacy of corrupt or asenlal legislators In the dele- 
gations representing our city. Time and again the 
Senate passed various measures of reform, and aa 
often they were defeated in the House la obedience 
to a partisan caucus, controlled by the members 
from Philadelphia. His record can be scrutin'Zed 
from the da-y he entered the Senate until the close 
of his service, and no measure of doubtful Integrity 
ever received his support. It was, therefore, but a 
just tribute to senator Dechert for the Citizens' Re- 
form Ass.^clatloa to present him as their candidate, 
and with such a commendation to the better people 
of the district, from an org^nizitlon that places re- 
form before pirty, and Invites the co-operation of 
every good citizen, without paiitical distinction, I 
cannot doubt that he will be successful by a large 
majority. (Applause.) 

Of his competitor I have nothing unkind or dls- 
respectful to say personally. But there are ques- 
tions of the gravest moment to the people wMch he 
cannot and will not answer. If he were to say that 
he would demand honest election laws for PWladel- 
Phl»>, by which each party would exercise equal re- 
straints upon the other, the men who nominated 
him would not support him. If he were to say puta- 
lif ly that he would support a b.U giving to the Ke- 
publlcaua, Demeorata, and Reformers equal repre- 



eentatlon, of their own selection. In the boards of 
caavaasera and In the election boards, auid giving 
the courts the right to revise the registration and 
restra'a palpable frand by return judges, his parti- 
sans wonld curse him as an enemy and rejoice at 
his defeat. If he were to declare that he would de- 
mand the abolition or all needless offices, the sur- 
render of irresponsible tmsts to proper ecrutiny by 
the people, the destruction of all illegal fees and the 
eiiacta)ent of just salaries for all city officials, he 
would be denounced as an enemy of the party, and 
aa Riming at tae destruction of its supremacy. For 
stight I Snow he is a worthy and reputable citizen, 
but, Tsith tho Bomlnat'cn, he has accepted the hard 
coBdirion that he shall "grind in the prison-house" 
of the authors of our degradation, and he will justly 
share the condt-mnation their maladministration 
has provoked. He wDl be defeated, because every 
consideration of public order, public credit, and 
public aafetv in Philadelphia Imperatively demands 
If^ (Applause.) 

Citizens of Philadelphia! Let us glance dispas- 
Blonately at the great Issue that has been forced 
upon ns in this election. Surely our crushing and 
growing debt, our unexampled tax-rate, the Incal- 
cu'able extortions enforced by our ofTlclals. and the 
gradulU but now almost complete transfer of all 
power over our revenues and departments from the 
tax-payers to combinations of men, upon whom 
most arbitrary authority has oeen conferred, must 
maRfl our people consider the problem In ihe spirit 
of truth and uoDerness. It is idle, worse tnan Idle, 
to nrge that at another time reform may be Inangn- 
rftted. There will be plenty to plead for a more; 
convenient season in which to enforce the manifest 
will of the people. It has been urged from year to 
yeitf in the past, and taxpayers have listened and 
postpoaedretrtDutloru Re Oim has been promised 
profusely In the very temple of corruption and there 
lire those whose falta was equal to the acceptance 
of the pledge. One year a Governor is to elect: 
aaotaer year political power is to be controlled in the 
State by legislative apportionments; another year 
a Senator is to be chosen ; another presents a Presi- 
dential contest, and the time never has come, and 
never will come, whon it will be convenient for the 
partisans who are the authors of our opp resslon to 
allow the people to ruie in Philadelphia. 

Looi'at the. anomalous political aspect presented 
In our cEly. The entire daily press of Phi ladelphla 
has, aa with one voice, demanded just what lam 
advocating to-nlaht. Tae Press, the Inquirer, the 
Age, the Ledger, ttte Pu^t, the Record, the North 
American, the G'irman Demokrat, tae Evening Tele- 
grwph, the B'dletin, the Day, the H.-.ralii, and the 
Star, have all piotested, year after year, against the 
monstrous abuse of power and authority by the or- 
ganization of men that rules the city. They aU 
protest against the disregard of the popular will and 
the defiance of all public interests in the political 
control of Philadelphia, They have taught the tax- 
payers that bad nominations and the prostitution of 
offlclal power are not eccldeotal nor exceptional, 
but that they flow continuously from a fountain 
polluted by delibcate, systematic, and organized 



wroDg. With manly Independence the press of 
Philadelphia have braved the temptations of power 
and advocated the cause of the tax- payers. (Ap- 
plause.) Now and then some have y elded to per- 
haps questionable consistency in support of the 
cacdidatea of the corrupt system, while denouncing 
tha system Itself; but upon the whole, a more 
faithful press that that of Philadelphia cannot be 
found in any city of the Union. (Applause ) There 
is not one of our dally josmals that supports the en- 
tire Republican ticket— not one. With two-thirda 
of tne dally newspapers Rtpubllcan in politics, and 
and all the va^t patronage of the ofHces and depart- 
ments In Republican hands, there Is mt one that ia 
so forgetful of its self-respect as to support all the 
nominations of the party. The Bulletin censures me 
for not supporting tha National and S ate ticset, 
and lo bolts the Leglolative t cfeet and the sppoint- 
men's lor canvas.-fert. (Laughter.) The Pres.^ cen- 
sures me for not supporting the National tictcet, and 
it bolts the State ticket. [Laughter.) Ihe Pout 
supports the City ticket and bolts the National 
tlcfcet. (Laughter.) The Telegraph accepts tha 
State ticket just- as It^would accept the varioloid 
in preference to sraali-pox (great laughter), and 
bolts the litglalative tlcfcet; and to escape political 
bolting, without sacrificing respectability, tha Nesior 
of the Republican press nas indivldaaily bolted to 
Europe; and the next in ripeness of political ex- 
perience has bolted to the golden slopes of the 
Pacitic, (Shouts of laughter ) 

The press of Philadelphia has taught our people 
how the power of the city is abused, and how its 
revenues are squandered. Eich journal of any re- 
putation or character has performed »ome part of 
this puollc duty. Not a single department of power, 
not a single trust, has escaped the severe cncicissn 
of our best journals. They have not been assailf d 
for incompetency, but for deliberate mismanage- 
ment and fraud ; and the extortion of hundreds of 
thousands of dollars annually from the people by 
their publi; officers, in the shape of Illegal fee^, haa 
met with the universal and stern condemnation of 
the press of the cUy. But there is not a man now ja 
office, nor one who is a candidate on tho Kepuollcaa 
ticket, who will not resist to the uttermost, here aud 
in Hariisbuig, any measures designed to protect the 
public from this shameless robbery. With every de- 
partment of power practically taKen from the con- 
trol of the public by special legislation, aud pecula- 
tion and fraud charged at every dour of mnulclpul 
authority by the press of Philadelphia, without dis- 
tinction of party, can citizens continue to be Indif- 
ferent In the straggle for reform ? Thousands of 
our most intelligent and uptight men have given 
themselves up to this great wotli. (AppUuse,) 
Tnej are Republicans, Denocrata and Llberais, hut 
they are tlrst for relorm, and ihey have enilstea ih-i 
etrorts oi more than enough of our votlog popula- 
tion 10 control overwhelmiugly our local contests if 
ire could approximate an honest election In our 
cltv. (Sensation.) 

The cancer of corruption has most thoroughly 
corrupted our munlcipa' booy politic. Wheuce 
comes this moral pestilence ? What fountain flows 



with this pollntloB? "What remedy la eqnal to 
the task of healing the ghastly wouuiis inflicted 
upon the honor, the credit, and the safety of the 
community ? 

I answer: The fotcntain of all our corruption, and 
of all our arbi'rary poiver, a7id of all our invsride, in 
Philoui Iphia. is the Legislature. 

Let ns glance at the facts. The consolidation 
charter left the piiwer of the aiunlclpailty in the 
people, as far as was at all practicable, and none 
but absolatPly necessary oilices were created. It* 
Whole provisions and splJlt point unmistekably to 
the exercise of the most careful scrutiny ol, and the 
most complete restraints upon, all oflloial authority. 
To secure our local RovernaQent from the whirlpool 
of politics, the municipal elections were held in the 
sprlufr, and to enforce respect for pablic sentiment 
m officials, the terms of all important city officers 
were but for two years. Bat the political managers 
soon found that they werfc unsafe In their power 
and emoluments if the tax -payers were allowed to 
call them to account every two years, and at a sea- 
son when pDlitlcdl prejudice coal.l not be invoked to 
save them. The departments gradually became en- 
gines of political power, and In exciting National or 
State contests it was an easy tasft to make the masses 
of the dominant psrty actively or passively asseut to 
huch an organization of them as promised the best 
poiiilcal Jesuits. 

Special legislation was resortRd to, and it has 
written a fearful record of plunder, demoralization, 
and oppression in osr midst. It first appeared as 
the cloud no greater than a man's hand, and created 
no alarm in the public mind. When municipal offi- 
cers of a particular political faith were elected, their 
terms were extended by apparently harmless spe- 
cial laws. First the head of political and municipal 
power was legisliited into an extended term and 
the elections fixed with the regular political elec- 
tions In the fall. The terms of Coutcllmen were 
next extended. Then one after another fo lowed 
special enactments extending the terms of subordi- 
nate officers, and the work of legisUtlve extensions 
la not yet quite flcished, aa etrorts have recently 
been made to extend the terms of the flnancial offi- 
cers of this city. 

In the meantime other most Important special 
legislation has been cnnninglv d -vised and enacted, 
crea ingan ludeaBite number of new offlcfa, and 
gradually wltridrawlug power from the people, 
and transferring It to irresponsible organizations of 
political favorites. At Qrst they did not venture to 
arouse popular Indignation by procurlog arbitrary 
power; bat little by little, from year to year, sup- 
plements aud special la*s have been quietly passed, 
framed In the most subtle manne", while nearly 
every depaitjnent of power- embracing the collec 
tlon, expenditure and revision of accounts of almost 
the entlr re^'enues of fnllartelphia— has been trans- 
ferred to ihoee wno h^ve lit' le or no accOTUtablllty 
to the people. Eachyear growl ug more and more 
b«.d In grMplng and exercising extraordinsry 
powers, they Uave acquired such ab>io!ute control of 
the channels of leplsla-lon that mo-it important bills, 
affecting interests to the amount of Jiuudreds ot 



thousands of do'lars, and coBferrIng nnnsnal Jran- 
ciilses, htive been clothed with all the ceremonies %t 
law wimout having ever passed the ijegliiature ftt 
all. And 80 defiant of puDllc onlnlan have our pn- 
llilcal maaagera of Philadelphia become, that the 
last irresponsible trust created for our city wea 
empowered to demand, and collect by mandamns, 
without the approval of Councils, millions of doj- 
lars from the tax-payers without even ordinary ac- 
coantablilty. 

Let the tHixpayer look over Philadelphia to-day, 
and wherever he turns he will see arrogant and 
prosperoQS officials, rendering little or no public 
service, but feeling safe in their positions beoanso 
special legislation has, In their judgment, made it 
impossible for the peoplfe to turn them out, no 
matter how the billots may be cast. Look at the 
millions of revenue collected ! Excepting that paid 
for interest, for the administration of justice, and to 
the police, almost every (iollar is disbursed throtigh 
irresponsible fusts. They annuaUy expend millions 
in the Highway, Gas, Water, Park, Punllc BuDdlng, 
and other departments, and the collection of our 
revenues is re>ftilated entirely by special legislation, 
framed and enacted solely for the benefit of the 
officials. Not one of these special enactments, con- 
ferring the power of the people upon iudividnals, la 
80 framed as to enforce accouutabllltv for the extra- 
ordinary authority conferred. The officers are re- 
moved as far as possible Irom the power of the 
people, and there la a palpable absence of whole- 
some restraints upon their official acts and their dls. 
barsumenta of the publn money. Indetd, so un- 
olnshingly did the financial officers of the city 
enforce ttielr power over leglslatioi in ihe session of 
1S71, that they passed a special law practically 
placing the auditing of their own accounts in th('if 
own hands, and taking it from the proper accounting 
officers of the city. If you doubt it, turn to the 
Pamphlet Laws for 1871, page 1166, and notice care- 
fully, "An ^ot relating to the advertislag of claims, 
etc., in the city of Philadelphia." That suoh a law 
should be passed exhibits a measure of recklessness 
in leglsiatloc, aud a meaeure of contempt for public 
opinion on the part of officials, that even Tammany 
in the zenith of her power did not contemplate. 
(Applanse.) 

I have given a necessarily brief history of the ten- 
dency and achievements of special legislation, in 
the interest of oar greedy aud ever-growing swarm 
of officials Now turn to the logical results. 

With a valuation upon property, cert'ilnly upon all 
the property of the Industrial classes, almost. If not 
quite, up to the cash value our tax- rate is the high- 
est of any city In the Union, and our debt is over 
$50,noo,(jco. It Is true thai our debt has been in- 
creased by extraordinary expenses incurred during 
the conflict to save our Government, but nearly 
every other county or muniuipailty in the Stite in- 
curred as heavy expenses in proportion to its wealth 
as Philadelphia did, and. with lighter taxes all such 
have paid most of their debts. Many of them have 
redeemed their war debts long ago, and in every 
other municipality the war debt has been wholly or 
mainly paid, while in Philadelphia our debt has 



^H 



Bteadily Increased each year, with Increased taxes, 
nntll in some sections of the elty property la unsal- 
able because of oar onerous taxation. Add to this 
the general demoralization that has permeated 
every department of municipal power, as evidenced 
by the unseating of higQ representative officials by 
summary process of Uw ; the enforced resignation 
of subordmate officers charged with the administra- 
tion of jaatlce; ttie jadlcUl condemnation in open 
court of the want of competency and Integrity In 
officials chirsced with the Interes-s of the city ; the 
frequent arraignment for violence and crime of offi- 
cial conservators of the public peace and safety, and 
the transfer of the chlel flnancial officer of the city 
to the felonv cell, for doing what cnsUm had made 
almost excusable In j nbllc estimation, and we begin 
to ap> reclate the prolific harvest we are gathering 
from the seeds of special legislation, directed by sel- 
fish and unscrupulous men We have sjwn to the 
wind and mast reap the whirlwind. 

But what I nave presented Is but one phase of the 
painful picture. It Is startling enough, bat It has 
still a darker side, as long as the people can rise 
np and assert their majesty tarough the ballot-box, 
bad government Is but a temporary evli, and the 
corrective power is sure to be exercised wisely and 
welL But tbe most appalling result of this gradual 
concenirailon of power iu the hands of our political 
officials Is the absolute denial to the people of the 
right or pswer to cnaage their rulers. In leg'sJatlng 
to malie peculation easy for themselves they have 
guarded with most zealous care every avenue of 
popular approach to their staiute-walled citadel of 
power. While a patriotic people were absoraed by 
the perils of the country in war they closed their 
eyes to official wrongs, but when the dangers of war 
had passed away, and they begaa to scrutinize local 
political affairs, the result was Kepubllcau defeat In 
1867 and 186S. I doubt not that frauds were perpe- 
trated by the Democrats, but I can as little doubt 
tHat, with increased facilities, the itepublicans did 
their utmost to make the honors easy. (Laughter.) 
Then came new necessities. The political power of 
the dominant party was seriously threatened. It 
had two ways to regain lt3 once strong hoid upon 
the citizens of Philadelphia, viz. :— 

First. The nomination of honest and competent 
candidates, and those most acceptable to an intelli- 
gent and patriotic people; or, 

Second. The enactment of such special laws as 
would give the absolute control of the ballot-box to 
the political leaders in power, rtgardless of the 
votes cast. 

The choice was presented then to give place to 
acceptable public servants, or to practically disfran- 
chise the people by corrupting the ballot. For rea- 
sons now obvious to every citizen, they rejected tde 
firat proposition and resolved to accept the second, 
because It was the only plan that promised them po- 
litical safety In deflanse of the community. The 
sequel l8 seen in the lact, at first but suspicion but 
Eow settled Into wlde-spread-convictlon, tbat not 
one-half the officials In office in Philadelphia have 
ever been elected by the people f^ the posltlnns they 
bold ; and some of them, filling most important 



public trusts, not only well know that they were 
honestly defeated, but they conceived and person- 
ally aided to extent© the frauds by which they were 
falsely returned as elected. (Applause.) 

It was deliberately rtaolved by the Rings of Phila- 
delphia that a law must be passed vesting in them 
and their ereatures absolute control of the whole 
election machinery of the city, to enable them to 
manufacture returns and declare themselves elected, 
even though the people should vote against them by 
thousands. As crime usually does when it must be 
ill some measure visible to the community, a clamor 
was made for ''honest elections," and the air was 
full of charges of Democratic frauds. Doubtless in 
a limited portion of the city there were Democratic 
frauds, as there were Republican frauds In twice as 
many localities. I do not question that a particular 
class of political leaders in both parties, such as 
now control the Republican organization, have 
always perpetrated election frauds in this city to the 
fullest extent of their power, and s > it will be in this 
and all other cities unless wise laws place every pos- 
sible restraint upon them. To divert the public 
mind from the real purpose of our present political 
leaders, the cry of fraud wa^ made to ring in the 
ears of our people. Ballot box stufl'erB, repeaters, 
and rounders made themselves hoarse clamoring 
for "honest, election laws." (Laughter and applause.) 
Toe upright portion of our citizens readily appre- 
ciated the necessity of restraints upon electpn 
frauds, and with pprofessions of hostility to crime 
upon their lips, the Ring leaders framed the Registry 
law so as to make honest elections imposslole as 
long aa a few bad men caa maintain their power 
It is the most ingenious, plausible, and monstrous 
frau 1 ever imposed upon a free people. ( -ipplanse.) 
It is exquisite in its perfection of subtle, sjstematic, 
and well-cloaked villainy, and to that law many 
men of more than doubtful reputation are Indebted 
solely for the official positions the) now hold to 
oppress and shame the people. (Renewed ap- 
plause.) 

Let us glance at this fonntaia of organized crime 
under caior of law: — 

1. What are its provlsloES? 

2. How has it been executed? 

3. What are its fruits? 

It provides for a registration of the voters of the 
city This is not only proper but an absolute nece*- 
slty if we are to have honest elections. But how is 
the registration to be made? The judicial power of 
the courts touching the dearest rights of the eltlzea 
is drst tiken from the judges and conferred upon 
an Irresponsible board of aldermen, and they are 
now held as the judicial tribunal to decide upon the 
elective franchise of our paople. when the coorta 
feave bC'^^n Invoked to stay the reckless hand of par- 
tisan Ininstlce, the judges have said that the wrongs 
complained of were atroelons, but that they were 
denied the right to afford a remedy. Repeated de- 
elsiins— one of them made recently by Judge Pax- 
son— have held that the judicial powers of the 
courts touching the qaallflcatlon of voters have 
been vested lu the Board of Aldermeii, a tribunal 
that now figures almost weekly in our criminal 



locks. Could any honest purpose have con'ielved 
mch a startling Infraction or the rights of citl- 
iens? 

Canvassers are to be chosen oyihe aldermen; 
three from each division, and the law is bo framed 
that the Repabllcaus have two in every precinct and 
:he Democrats but one. In order to blind the pub 
ilc, t..e orlgr- al law required that the caavasseis 
should be "reputable citizens," and that n<-» ore 
shall he appointed "who holds any public otlice or 
any clerfeship in any public office, and who has not 
been a qnalifled elector of tnis Commonwealth and 
a householder and qualllled elector of the division 
for which he may oe appointed for at least two 
years immediately preceding his appointment." 

The aldermen are also required to fix the places 
where the caovasiers are to meet, and time and 
place for the assesoors to make extra as-iessments 
It will be observed that everytfiioR pertaining to 
the perfection of the registration of the voiers of 
the city of Philadelphia is entrusted to tne Board of 
Aldermen. 

The electlo" ofBcers are to be selected by the 
aldermen, anu m order to give a semblance of fair- 
ne^s, the Registry law provided that both parties 
Bhould have one Inspector, one return iospector, 
and one return inspector's clerfe— the judge to be 
selected from the political party having cast a ma- 
jority in the division at the last preceding general 
election. This apparently fair provision is most in- 
geniously worded, and we shall see hosvltsnro- 
mised fairness was miintained in its execution. 
Next follows a sec:ion of gaterlHg generalities, ap- 
pearing to coufer upon the courts power to revise 
the election otlcers, but all experience in the c lurts 
has proven tout the law really withholds all general 
or equitable relief to the people It Is also w-irthy 
of note that the original law gave the courts tne 
power to Ull vacancies In canvassers and election 
boards. 

The canoansere have prac.iically the power of dix- 
/ranchising xvhmn they pleai^e. aiid lonen acting in con- 
cert with dixhoneat. elcc ion ojfit-er'i, their power to dis 
franchiae ani < dizen in absolute and euen beijond the 
remedial po^ver of the courts. 

Persons wtiosa nimes are not wanted on the reels- 
tratlon can be har isse * by the canvassers and elec- 
tion officers so much that very many prefer to aban- 
don the attempt to vote, rather than su'imlt to the 
humlUatloH and insults to which they are soDjected. 
The registry of vof-s is made the '-only evidejce" 
of the proper qualiflcation of voters, "and no voter 
whose name is so registered shall be challenged on 
any question of residence." With a partl?aa ma- 
jority in the canvaisers of each division to register 
fictitious names for repeaters to veto on, the pur- 
pose of the provision I have just quoted becomes 
plainly apoareut Bat all persons whose names may 
be omitted or rejected by the Ciuvass rs must pre- 
sent tax receipts, swear as to residence, prove iden- 
tity and residence, and prorince naiuralization 
papers, while tne repeater can vole on a falsely 
registered name unchallenged. (Sensation.) 

This act was passed during the 8»ssion of 1969, 
lust after the Republican leaders had twice suf- 



fered defeat by reason of bad nominations. It 
worked tcU for ttiem. They restrained frauds on 
the Democratic side, and by the perpetration of 
moderate frauds themselves, regained their su- 
premacy in the fall of that year. But additional 
powers were wanted. The men who had been su- 
bordinated as expert haUo;-box stuffers, forgers of 
returns, etc., Demanded that the law should be 
made iron-clafi against the people, so that they 
could come to th.e front and go on the ticket for 
the first offices of the cllv. A supplement was ac- 
corrilngly carefully framed and pissed in 1870. By 
its provisions all the duties of the assessors were 
transferred to the canvassers, even to the assess- 
ment of poll or personal taxes, and if an election 
officer i«i ab'^ent for thirty minutes after the poll 
opens, the oartlsaa inspector and judge shall All the 
vacancy. The tlrst step taken to escape compica- 
tlons and restraints is ihit discarding assessors, 
and placing the whole machinery in the hands of 
the canvassers. Next they take from the Courts 
the power to fll vacancies in the election boards. 
Under this provision men are paid not to 
at end, and allow some unscrupulous ballot 
st^uffer or false counter, or forger of re- 
turns, to be apDolQted at a 
time when the v> can be ro eir)rtmade for his re- 
moval. With the way thus opened for the Ring ex- 
perts, most of whom are paM by sutiordlnate of- 
fices, the following most slgniacant sentence con- 
cludes the third section of the Registry supp ement: 
' No parson shall be disqualifled from serving as an 
election officer or canvasser ^v reason of his em- 
ployment in any saborlinate position In any public 
office." The prlnclpils of our public offices, who 
might give some assurance of character and iu- 
tpgrity, are still excluded, but the subordinates, who 
owe their places often to their expertness in perpe- 
trating frauds, are made eligib'e to the offlcei whlish 
control the franchises of our citizens and the re- 
turns "f o;jr elections. Wnen this supplement was 
pa-sed, Leeds, Bunn, Tittermary and Beatty were 
armed for the contest, an 1 they triumphed easiiy. 
Every man placed on the ticket tbat year was and 
still IS a most accomplished manager of fraudulent 
electi ns. 

List winter the alarm created by the contest in 
the Fourth senatorial nistrict at the spRCl*l election, 
made the leaders reluctantly c^asent to another 
suppletnent tjy which both parties selected their own 
election officers. It U a hesltitlng stpp in the rigii 
direction, but the registration still remains entirely 
in the hands of the party having the majority of the 
aldermen. 

Secind. How has the law been executed? 

The original law could have been "o executed, in 
accordance wltn its letter and spirit, as to restrain 
fraud and secure honest elections Had honest men 
been entrusted with its exef^ut'on it might have 
been made a b^neucent statute, but its great defect 
Is that it purposely and ingeniously oppufd the way 
for bad men to perpetrate the most shameful frauds 
under color of the law itself. 

Under the '.aw canvassers have been appointed of 
the most disreputable character, and wholly unfit to 



6 



decide la any respect npon the qaallQcatlona of 
electors. For three years a large proportion of thofe 
appoiafed werd legally dUqaalifled, and amnj more 
were morally uafltted fur the trast; bui it is an end- 
less tasS to canvass each division, prep*re tesilmouy, 
etc. and bat few of them have been removed. Tliev 
have just auaouQOHd the caavassers for the Impor- 
tant election of next fall. Had the aldermen con- 
templated aa honest election they would gladly 
have accepted the request of the Citizens' Reform 
Association to give that respectable and faithful 
organization a voice la the Important duty of per- 
fecting the registration of the voters of the city. 
What could be more just to every honest public or 
private Interest than for the canvassers of each 
precinct to consist or one Republican, one Demo- 
crat, and one Reformer? (Applause.) But it would 
arrest false registration, and woalrt thus end the 
hopes of many moat uo worthy candidates. The re- 
sult is that not only bitter nnscrupnlous Republican 
partisans compose two-i.hlrda of each boarc^, but 
maay of the most <iisrepnfable repeaters, rounders, 
prison birds, and petty offlcialB nave been selerted 
to decide upon the rlghn of franchise of our cltizei s 

Look at the list as It has been recently pahllshed 
In spveralof ourcityjonraaig. home two hundred 
petty officials are among the men who are to decKe 
npon tho right of suffrage of our citizens, and of 
that class, scores are well known to the piblic as 
most acc^raplished and dar'.ng heroes of every form 
of polluting the bullot. With them, and among 
them, are notorious outlaws and convicts. In every 
pirt of the city where Ring power Is supreme hrd 
frauds habitually practised, there is not one can- 
vasser appointed by the majority who commands or 
merits public confldeace. The people of Philadel- 
phia have notice defiantly given them, by the dis- 
reputable character of the canvassers, that the Ring 
polltlciaos mean this vear to su -pass all their former 
achievement- la perverting ihe honest votes of the 
city. For less bold offenses against public order and 
against the purity of the elective franchise, the 
people of Sin PraQcisco. but a few y ars ago. re- 
sumed the powers they had conferred upon corrupt 
legislatures and helpless courts, and summarily 
executed or baaished the criminals who, like their 
Imitators In Philadelohia, had paralyzed jastice and 
practically dUfranchised the honest taxpayers. 
(Applause ) For such monstrous wrongs there must 
be a remedy, and if it cannot come by the law and 
of the law, it must in time come by the sovereign 
and avenging power of the people, as it did recently 
In New York, or as it did more snmmarlij In San 
Francisco. (Cheers and applause.) 

The citizens of Pnllartelphla should bear in mind, 
and take well to he-irt the fact, that these canvas- 
sers are charged wirh the dearest rights of citizen- 
ship for their respective comT unites, and that they 
are to-day the very fountain of politicul power In 
PMIartelphia, 

And of these men the BuVctin of the 24th nit. says 
editorially :— "Soae a'e petsfus who have no char 
acter worth speaklrg of, and who are regnrf.ed by 
the commnylry with drep d'situst. Tie Bi^ard of 
Aldermen i8 not fit to anmlnlsier such an important 



business as this, aa onr exr)erlonce In the past 
abaniiantly oroves. Many of the members are not 
much superior moral y to the moat objectionable 
persons whom they have appointed, and nearly all 
of tnem are, we fear, partisans of » too bitter kind 
to WISH foif exact justice in the performance of the 
duties of thHir appointees " 

How the canvassers me^n to discharge their 
duties can be be.st judged by their characters and 
their actions In the past. Last year some SOOO flctl- 
tlons names were added to the list of voters, and 
moai, of them voted by repeaters, operated in gangs 
under experienced captains, em Dloyed an 1 paid by 
our leading pollticiaQs, aud over 5ino names of 
Democrats and Keformers were Btijclien oflT. 

Can an? honest citizen close hU eyes to the public 
boasts made on oar otreet corners, by our hardened 
and confident heroes in critne, that this year they 
mean to poll the largest fr.*adulent vote ever cast la 
PhJladelphia? (Sensation.) It is comessed that the 
f'itlzens' Reform AsBociatiou will not vote the Ring 
tickf-t. (Applause ) The Liberal Republicans, now 
nura )ered no longer by hundreds but by thousands, 
will do likewise, and manv of our b^st citizens of 
the Republican party will vote against eveiything 
that beirs the taint of Rlog rule. (Applause.) With 
more Republicans voting against the ticket than 
ever before, and with less Republicans voilng for 
the ticket, It Is open y declared that the Ring nomi- 
nailons will secure the largest majority next Octo- 
ber that was ever given in this city. The solution 
of the problem of our next election af cornea, there- 
fore, a mere question of simple arithmetic. If fewer 
men honestly voting for the ticket, an! more men 
honestly voting against the ticket than ever before, 
can give the tickt-t the largest m^ijority ever known, 
where is the majority to come from? (Laughter and 
applause.) Certainly mt from the voters! Cer- 
tainly not from the count, for that may be checked 
measutably, if not entirely, as each par.y selects its 
own otTlcers. It must come from corrupt reglstra- 
Hon and the corrupt admission of illegal votes by 
the election biards. 

Another remark'ible feature of the execution of 
oar election laws is the fact, repeatedly e8tat)llshed 
In our courts and other election contests, that the 
election offl'^ers are rarely s^orn in the districts 
where frauds are perpetrated. The aldermen, who 
now are the judicial authorities oi the city touching 
elections, often certify that officers have been swoi n 
wtiere no oath has been administered. 

The canvassers are, by the supplement to the re- 
gistry law, the only authority competent to assess 
personal or poll tax, and blank receipts are now 
furnished free in every precinct by the officials of 
the city, to be used for repeaters and others whose 
votes are wan'ed. The tax is never collected, and 
the city is robbe-i every year by the mockery of tax 
collections to facilitate fraudulent voting. 

Look at the repor s published in our journals, and 
note the places fixed by the Board of Aldermen for 
the canvassers to sit in discharging their public du- 
ties. Thyy Ovve it to Justice as well aa to deceacy to 
A'e on such places as reputable people would be will- 
ing to visit. But in the districts where gigantic 



frauds are contemplated, the canvassers are often 
located tn places where respectable cltlzena cannot 
go without danarer of tasult or Injury. The locali- 
ties 'ire selected solely for the parpoae of avoiding 
public scmtlny, and concealing their systematic 
preparations for paUutIng ths election. 

Nee 1 1 repeat what is well known to every Intelli- 
gei t citizen of Philadelphia, how election officers 
have hitherto b"en appointed solely by the Kings, 
and in the Interest of the Rings? While they nomi- 
nally gave a portion of the officers to ths Deuocrats, 
they iavanably rejected the men proposed by tae 
Democrats, and chose In their stead, la most pre- 
cincts, men who were either shanaefnlly corrnpt or 
atterlv incompetent.thus giving them every election 
offl'-er and removing all possible restraint from 
fraud? Need 1 repeat what is equally well known 
to all, that policeman and principal, not subordinate, 
officials, have served illegally on election boards and 
actively participated in election frauds? 
Third— What are itn frnlts? 
With such a law. and such an ex^-cuMon of 
it, there can be notnlng else than a fearful harvest 
of profligacy, corruption, and shame. The measure 
of public wrongs this Registry law, and the manner 
of Us execution, have interwoven with the history 
of Philad=>lDhia, Is almost Incalculable In either its 
extent or Us results. 

It has given us a thoroughlv studied and com- 
pletely organized system of public, private and po- 
litical crime that threatens every form of Individual 
or general safety. The political power of the muni- 
clpali-'y is directed to hut two great ends: public 
plunder and protection to the plunderers, and to 
these chief parposes all the eiTirts of legislation, 
state and municipal, are directed by the chief polit- 
ical managers. 

It has given us, as a rule. Incompetent and dls- 
hinest offlce'-g— executive.mlnisterial and represen- 
tative. Before the registry law was enacted, politi- 
cal leaders were compelled to nominate men In 
whom the people had confldence. (Apnlaune.) On 
one or two occasions public opinion was outraged 
by par'y cotventlons and defeat followed, when ac- 
ceptable men hal Urge majorities. Gradually un- 
scrupulous leaders grasped for more and more pow- 
er, and fraud was employed to secure sncceHS, but It 
concealed ita deformities from the people. Then the 
leafiers employed the callot-box stuffers, repeaters, 
etc., as menials They paid them, and they were 
done with them. But when the Registry law was 
perfbcted to legalize fr-iud as a science, the aenials 
became c amorous to be roasters. (Laughter.) Two 
years ago Bann demanded and r*celv*d his reward. 
One vear ago StoKley forced his way into the execu- 
tive ch'ir, and ihie-yesr Ms lieutenants, McCulloch, 
TUtermary, and Ash, Qung themselves to the front 
foe the LegieiatQTe If they shaU incceed, rext 
year, wUh equal confluence, Dau Redfiing, Tim 
RIlov, and -Ichnny Ward can claim recognition by 
political nominations, (i anghterand che^-rs.) And 
whrn they shall have succeeded, the "EducatPd 
Bog," She '•F!>lDg Dutchman," "S-nttRrlng .ilromy." 
and "Gophor Bill" will r'emand, and must rece've 
Ike recognition. (Laughter and applause ) Tney 



have been menials long enough, and they ask that 
ihey shall share the honf rs they have been con- 
ferring year after year by their frau .a. And who 
could dspuie their claim? Are they entitled to any 
less respect ihan the mtn of more geuteel preten- 
sions who have employed them from year to year to 
cheat them into office? and are they any more 
criminal than the gentlemen of assumed respect- 
ability, who knowingly contribute their money from 
time to time to pay for perjary, ballot-stuffing, re- 
peating, and forgeries? 

Look over the list of local nominations and learn 
the fruita of the registry law under Us authors and 
present managers. They professed to submit the 
selection of candidates to the people, and returned 
38,000 votes, when not over 20,000 were polled. I 
have heard nearly every candidate, successful and 
nusnccesBful alike, declare that the returns were 
often made to suit the views of the officers, without 
regard to the ballots voted, and return judges 
hawked ward returns from candidate to candidate, 
to be manufactured to ordtr for morey. The nomi- 
nees were jost as well knows for days before the 
election Jis after the mockery of coontlng the votes 
had been gone through with, and canoluates who 
were returned defeated by thousands, declare that 
they received an honest majority of the votes cast. 
Look at the ticket. Ihe members of the Consti- 
tutional Convention at large are highly respectable 
and eminently qnallfled. As the managers did not 
hope to control the corvet rion, and as their Imme- 
diate interests are not in that direction, they tbrev.' 
Carey, Knight, and Wetherlll as tubs to the whale. 
The city ticket is tolerable, and as good aa it conld 
have been made by the men who mannfacture bal- 
lots by machinery. (Laughter.) They are meu who 
will make all out ct the offices that Is in them, and 
they will contribute liberally to maintain Hmg 
power, and to prevent auy leglslatJon adverse to 
Ring dominion, or that alms to relieve the people 
from Row extortions. 

But the rfflcers who control the destiny of Phila- 
delphia are the Governor and i^enators and Kepre- 
sertatives. You find no Mere»'ith8 or W etherills or 
Careys or Knights on the legislative part oi the 
ticket. That is the reserved right of the RlDgs, for 
as special legislation (s the fountain of all our muni- 
cipal woes, the Legislature will perpetuate or over- 
throw the present infamous rule of onrcliy. Glance 
at the legislative ti ket. No one can doubt how or 
why such men have been nomlrated. If we had 
honest election laws, f ertilnly not 5 out of the 18 
would have been thought or for nomination, and not 
as many could have any hope of election. (Ap- 
plause,) These men want t ie place, and are wanted 
there by others, to elect a United Slates Senator, to 
pass the new crop of special acta luvented each year 
to increase the profits of oar political managers, and 
to guard against the enactment of any law looking 
to reform. H hat one of the whole 18 wl I vote to 
give us a fair election law? What one will vote to 
Biliary the Row offices? What one will vote to en- 
force proper acconntahllliy from our public trusts? 
What one will vote to relieve us of our present dis- 
graceful police system? What one w;.'l vote against 



8 



Simon Cameron, the veteran of the Elngg, for 
United States Senator? There U net an Irtelllgert 
citizen of Phlladtlptiia, Rs publican Liberal, or De- 
mocrat who ■ oes not know ihat cearly or quite all 
of these legislative cai-dldatea will vote against 
every proposition deblgned for the rtgereratlon of 
our city, or the relief of our tax-payers from Ring 
extortions. 

Look at the dally evidences of demoralization 
such legislators have hroajiht upon us. The fran- 
chises of the Commonwealtn are now sold by oar 
representatives, etcher in person or through brokers, 
like oattle tn the market. Acts of incorporation, 
conferring the most extraordinary privileges, bo in- 
geniously framed that their stockholders can eppca- 
Jate Indehnitely, build railroads, exercise banking 
privileges, escape the Usury laws, or do anything 
else likely to invite associated capital, are hawked 
aboni from office to office in search of purchasers. 
Bank charters are no longer applied for legitimately 
by buslneps men. They could not have them passed, 
or, if passed, they would be so framed as to be 
valueles-s. But they can ^ny ihem on the streets by 
paying for them In just proportion to the value of 
the franchise conferred. 

Any attorney can to-morrow, before noon, buy a 
charter for any association of gentlemen, for any 
purpose common in business circles, and organize a 
corporation before nlKht. Pardons, too, are but ar- 
ticles of commerce. I do not say thst they are sold 
by the Executive but they are held as the legitimate 
perquisites of poiltU al power in Philarielpbla. HoDee 
Marcer languishes in a felon's tell while Mara goes 
out to commit fresh murder. 

Look again, and you see the very temple of justice 
polluted. The sUmv hand of corrupt political 
posver h9S compassed the jury box, and there Is no 
law to reach those who offend in the interest of the 
dominant inle. It Is true, as the Sheriff explained 
when a palpable wrong had been enmmltted against 
publl'^ justlc, that the jurors are drawn in acc( rd- 
ance with law, but for several years the men whose 
acts expose them to just punishment have carefully 
selected the men who shall flU our jury-box. They 
are rarely, If ever, individually corrupted, but they 
are so hedged about by associations, or complicity 
iu peculation, that tht-y must shield their frenas. 
Mr. Lea, the worthy chairman of the Citizens' Re- 
form Committee, recently prosecuted an official 
who h*d debanchf^d two election officers. He did it 
b Crtuse he was directed by a committee of most 
prudent and upright men, some of whom are attor- 
neys, and 'he grand jury not only Ignored the bill, 
but directed that Mr. Lea should pay the costs. If 
you doubt that these men fear an honest jury, look 
at thp haste which which they" united to defeat the 
Wll I passed in the Henate last winter, simply pro- 
viaing that our jury box shonld be emptied, and 
that honest men should be placed therein. (Ap- 
plause,) 

Lookagiln, and you find our return judges fol- 
lowed w.th pistols to latlm'date them to do right, 
or mo" ev to debauch them to commit wrong, and 
riot and murder have resulted from the organized 



villainy that regards election returns aa mere arti- 
cles of speculntioa or partisan advantage. 

Look again, and yon find a police force, past and 
present, under our degfaded political system, that 
is almost every week arraigned for crlme.and whose 
mere mifideiueanors or Inattention to their supposed 
duties are ni longer sufficiently novel to afract at- 
tention. There are of course honorable exceptions, 
buc I simply state what the experience and record 
of our city prove from week to week. 

Look again, and you find almost every city de- 
partment either arraigned in court, or its abuses 
clearly and unanswerably expost^d from day to day 
by the Committee of the Reform AB>*ociation, out 
punishment is impossible, and official extortion and 
oporession go on with impunity. 

What think you, citizens of Philadftiphla, of the 
Registry law? wiiat of its execution? What of its 
fruit? Is the picture overdrawn? TJie evidence is 
plain as ntion-day, and he who runs L^j.y read the 
vindicition of the truta of this piinful and hacalli- 
atiag presentation, 

Buc what is the remedy? 

1. The election of an upright and Independent 
Governor. It Is vain to make war against disrepu- 
table legislators if an Executive shall be chosen 
who dare not approve reform measures without 
giving mortal otfoQt>e to the men who made him a 
candidate and exhausted fraud to elect him. I have 
no pergonal assaults to make against General Har- 
t anit, but there are grave questions of public mo- 
ment Which stare us in the face in Philadelphia, and 
which our eitizens must consider and answer. He 
has recently visited different sections of the State 
and represented to his friends that his election will 
be secured lu the face of the rural dlsaffeetlon, by 
this city giving him from 12, nou to 15,000 majority. 
He oelleves it, I doubt i ot; but why does he believe 
It, and why does he g've such assurance? lie knows 
that any such majority, or indeed any m«jority at 
all, far him in this city mast be wholly frauialent. 
Has he been advised of it and assented to it? Have 
the studied ani elaborate plans of fraud been un- 
folded to him, to enafjle him to go forth and inspire 
Us friends wheu revolt comes up from every side? 
And has he gone armed with the boast 9f the bal- 
lof-t)Ox stuff' r and the fa.se canvasser? And is he 
strengthened in his hopes by the now notorii ua 
fact tuat the criminals of our city aro threatened, 
by his friends, with hopeless punishment if he Is 
defeated, and promised safety if he is elected? I do 
not assume or belUve that he is 
personally a party to these appalling political com- 
biuatlons, but it is impossible that he Is Ignorant of 
the fact that public justice is prostituted In his name 
every day lu Philadelphia, by negotiations with pro- 
fessional offenders to aid his election ; end, knowing 
it as he does, can he stand blameless before this op- 
pressed. Insulted and aroused coramuolty, while he 
is silent and hopes to reap the harvest "f fraud and 
crime? With an Executive so complicated by 
wrong to ach eve political saocess, there can be no 
hope for reform in Philadelphia for three laugyevs, 
unless he shall dlssard the power that gave him vic- 
tory. No one doubts that if Mr. Buckalew is elec- 



ted tbe barter !n pardccs will enrt ; ttiat ttie meas- 
nrps of reform will be promptly approved and faith- 
fal'y enforced, and that fraud or crime of any form 
cm plead ao exemption from just punlshmect on 
political or pecuniary grounds. -(Cheers and ap- 
pluuse.) 

No dispassionate mind can fsil to note that the 
most depraved and riarjjerors elements of crime In 
our midst have been invoked by those who direct 
the political management of onr city. The very air 
ta redolent wirh the boast? of the vicious as they 
declare in crirasoned law'essnefis the terms of the 
compact wKh those who have bartered the public 
sifety to unite thieves and murdarers wivh repeaters 
snd ballot-stnirera. Sixty days ago two murderers 
wi're pardoned. They had not wleld'-d the fenife 
and p*Rtol In hate or provocation, but they becime 
assassins by contract. In Ipbs than a month one 
was Bgala a delibe^-ate murderer, and was. in 
moctery of justice, called a fnglt've, and last week 
'he other dipd by the hand of a fe'low murderer. 
Kc-ver briore have so rcany murderr.ui? esjaulis 
been corumirtPd in Philadelphia in the same period 
ns wirh'n the lasi month, and ihis terrible record Is 
imt the natural fruits of the Immunity that de- 
bauched p-^llticii' s have proffered to crime If the 
finas shall triumph In this contest, the wildest 
Rhoutfi of victor? will come from the haunts of dis- 
order and death, (ipplaugp.) 

■i. The election of aTteform ).esri«lature is an In- 
dispensa'le wort? to give hope of reform. Ko matter 
lo what party douVitful or dishonest candi'iates be- 
long, or by whom thev may be presented, vote 
agMnstthem, an? see that your votes are counted 
and returned, and the t'inmph will be Immediate 
and complete. (Aoplsuse.) Blect Senator Dechert 
(renewed applause) a? d men of llk'i Integrity in th»» 
representative distrlctp, whether tfaey are for 
Oreeley or Grant, and Ring dominion will be hODP- 
b'ssiy overthrown. It can surely be done by unity 
cf effort and vigilance worthy of the cause. Not 
only in Philad.ilphia, but throughout the State the 
tile of reform is swelling, and it will be omoipoteiit 
even if fraud should oversphelm our c'ty, as is info- 
lently boasted. I speak with canstd'-nce when 1 say 
we shaU have a Legislature that neither the plunder 
of our political Rings nor the vanallty of mean am- 
bition can control. (Cheers ) 

3. The reputable citizens of Philadelphia cannot 
hope for reform while they lend their names a d 
coHtrlbute their means to the men who are now 
well known as the authors of these frauds. I hold 
m my hand a copy of the proceedings of the 
meetings held recently 1q this city, ostensibly to 
ratify the renoTilnaMon of G-3a°ral Grant. Of that 
no one coald comolaln, for all who particioated hon- 
estly prefer G-eneral (Grant's election, but here are 
the names of Carey, Fell, Clagisorn, Townsen.d, 
Refgel, McKean, Pepper, Stuart, Bitcher, Cope, 
Borle, Drexel, Cooke, Taaker, Jeffrks, Merrick, 
Knight, Fltler, Sellers, and others published as offi- 
ceis, and the'oUowlng resolutions appear as having 
been adopted "wlthoat a dssssntlng voice." on mo- 
tion of C Ity Solicitor Collis:— 

Resolved, That in the game spirit we ratify and 



endorse the nomination of Majnr-General John P. 
Hartranit for the Governor of our State ; for to htm 
as to General Grant the nation owes a debt of 
gi'ati'nde for vali'int services iu battle of ro com- 
mon character, and we of PeauRyivauia especially 
recognize in hl.m the modest aad faithful civil 
officer. 

Resolved. That we pledge our unqualified support to 
the nominees of the National, Slate, a7id Municipal 
Conventions of the Republican party. 

On the following evening, ta''ing advantage of tiie 
genera! desire of the friends of the admUistratlon 
to ratify the renominatlon of the President, we find 
the names of MoHirhael, Prevoet, Borie, Gilpin, 
Pell. Carey, Sellers, Baird, Knight Lewis, Lea, 
Farrlson, McUean, Bullock, Fifer, Llppincott, 
Duti.h, Fraley, Blddle, Claghorn, Browne, Wether- 
111, Coates, and many others, who appear as tOe 
chief participants in the unanimous adoption of ihe 
following resolution, piopoaed by District Attorney 
Mann :— 

Resolved, That we recognize the candidates npon 
the Republican State ticket as the accepted repre- 
sentatives of those principlos which have secured 
the enduring prosperity of the nation and the Com- 
monwealth; and with an earnestappreciation of the 
importance of maintaining the integrity of the Re- 
publican organization, we pledge ourselves to every 
legitimate effort to secure In October so glorious a 
success that PeorsTlvania mny pgaio, as in the 
past, be accounted by herrecwd the foremost cham- 
pion in the cause of justice and right. 

The gentlemen I have named sincerely desired to 
ratify the notpln-'tion of Grant, bur. thev could not 
do so wUhout givlDgan uncinalified enderseroentto 
the Ring Stite, city and leeislative nrmicaHons, 
and now those tickets stand before the people justly 
ciaimlDg that they are approved by the most infiu- 
ent-lal and reputable RepnbUcaos. So completeiy 
hive the Rings Interwoven thtir debauched' politi- 
cal system with the Republican organization, that 
they extort the formal sanction of honest and lead- 
ing citizens, because they threaten political disaster 
If It Is refused. 

It l8 as much the fault of reputable citizens as it 
Is the fault of our reckless and dishonest political 
leaders, that the Rings rule Philadelphia, wnue 
they allow their names to cover resolutions endors- 
ing fraudulent nominations and fraudulent e!ec.- 
tlouF, and contribute their means to committees or- 
ganized mainly or solely to achieve success by 
fraud, who is most to blam-^, the criminal or his re- 
spectable aider and abetter? (Applause.) Not one 
of the men I have named Tom the list of officers 
would so degrade himself as to give an individual 
approval of the whole State ticket, nor of one ie 
five of the legislative ticket, yet. all. have uninten- 
tionally lent thf'irtsanctlon to the prostituted power 
and systematic frauds whicti have made our muni- 
cipal government a staln'and ri^proach. It is thus 
the whole posver cf the people has been stolen, and 
that our revenues have been transferred to specula- 
tors and plunderers. But for the reputable tails the 
Rings can attach to their political kites, their die 



10 



graceful dominion would long since have been over- 
lUrown. (Appl!»u8e.) 

4. Tne enormous exactions from tae people In tne 
shape of lUedal fees by our Row offlcers must be 
ended. It Is a most fruitful fountain of conupt po- 
ll leal power. Boundless debauchery is invited by 
the large gains to be realized If a Rtv office is at- 
tained, and the temptation to fraud la Irresistible 
with those who seek to profit by political success 
home of our Bow officers are not even quallfled to 
fill ordinary clerRshlpa, jet ihey realize from 825, ono 
to $75,000 per aunum by extorting illegal fees, while 
our Judges receive but 8r>ono from the Mate, to 
which Is now added 82000 from tie city. What ex- 
cuse can any legislator offor for the continuance of 
such wrongs agalast law and against the com- 
muDUj7 

5. Our municlpil polUioal system must be torn up 
by tbe ructs. We h*ve tried to prune the deseased 
Umbaand to heil the ghastly scars corruption has 
given us, but all has been vam. Bac*i year new 
diseases, new scars, and new runnlDg sores have 
been legislated upon us, u 01.11 our city government, 
excepting only Its judiciary, Is fe^terlag In every 
part. The simple, practical remedy for PMladelphlti 
Is a new city charter (deafening applause), or a re- 
peal of our special leglstatlon that will brin? us oacfe 
to the main provisions of the original charter of 
cons'illdatlon. An honest electlen law should be 
enacted, and our mayor, councils, and ail necessary 
city offlcers should be chosen next May to serve the 
terms fixed hy the original act. (Applause.) With 
needless offices abolished ; with our officials to be 
reviewed by the people every two years at a sprinft 
election, when political necesaliles could not be In- 
voked to sustain bad men ; with onr Common Coan- 
clls to be elected annually solely on city issues; with 
our police divorced from politics, and with honest 
jurors assured, the reign of crime wonlJ end at 
onje, and Philadelphia would have honest, econo- 



mical and enlightened government. (Cheers and 
applause.^ I can safely assume that the three Phila- 
delphia Senators who hold over— one Republican, 
one Democrat, one Liberal— will cordially agree la 
support of the measures I have indicated, and If Mr. 
(lecnert shall be returned the voice of this city will 
be united in the Senate In favor of the summary 
termination of tne rule of fraud and profligacy. 
(Applause.) With an honest House and an honest 
Executive, the regeneration of our long suffering 
municipality will be attained. Let this opportunity 
ue lost, and, for years to come, our people will b^ 
condemned to still bolder and more reckless abuse 
of power. 

Will not crime be admonished? Postpone It as 
may by trick or fraud. Its evil day must surely come. 
Here there are faithful courts. Honeat jurors will 
be had, and retribution must follow. Tammany had 
power, had wealth, had socUl pjsltlon. had courts, 
had juro7s, had every concel^'able appliance for 
perpetuating Its rule. But the omnipotence of 
honeat public opinion b ew Its fierce breath upon it, 
ana It crumbled to pieces; Its leaders are fugitives, 
or shunned by all; Its wealth has taken wings; Us 
power has dissolved, and justice has reached its 
high and low places with Its terrible scrutiny. Its 
judges have bowed to the avenger, une sought the 
peace of death, and two others bear the mark of 
Cain, and not one of all the thrlce-malled band has 
worshippers. Like Us no less scrupulous Imitators 
here, It was not content with moderate achieve- 
ments In crime, and it fell as all such fall, unwept, 
nnpltled and a suicide. Here the last great venture 
of fraud Is about to be made against an aroused and 
vigilant people, and it will fall upon the endarlog 
colunn of public justice and be broken. It is sow- 
ing dragons' tee'.h broadcast In our midst, and it 
must accept the harvest of death, as Philadelphia 
becomes regenerated to self-government, to honor 
and to prosperity. ( Prolonged applause.) 



ADDRESS OF CQL. A. K. M'CLURE. 



The Finances and the Labor Infer esfs — Secretary 
Bontivell and his Failures — Tlie Syndicate, 



[Address of Col. A. K. ID dure at a mass raeetinq of the citizens of West 
Philadd2Jhia,Se2JtemherlQth,lS~-2.] 



After long, loud and repeated calls, Col. 
McClure stepped to the front of the plat- 
form amid thunders of applause. When 
tlie tumult had subsided the colonel said: 

Fellow Citizens: Ours is a Government of 
law, and the people are its law-nialvers. Our 
national contests are but the arbitrament of 
the sovereij^n antliority of the nation as to its 
policy. Its diplomacy is thus revised and di 
rocted, and war and peace controlled. Its do- 
mestic regulations of industry, fuiance and 
commerce are adjusted, and to tlie supreme 
mamlate of the people all interest's conform. 
Wlien their purposes have been misunderstood 
or defied tJicy have tlie peaceful and effectual 
remedy of the ballot, and no violence or cou- 
vulsiim attends the execution of the popular 
will. Wlien tlieir freeinstitutionsai'etlu'catened 
by nsurpatiou under any guise they arrest it by 
the majesty of freedom. When the harmony 
of all tlie great interests of the country is in- 
vaded by tlie undue advancement and acci- 
dental power of any one of the elements of our 
greatness, they calmly restore eui^h to its just 
snliordiuatioii, and thus maiiitaiu the general 
welfare. 

It is well to look at the source of political 
power when it is involved by contending parties 
in a national contest. Especially is it essential 
to do so when (luestioiis are to be decided over 
which executive authority has little or no con- 
trol. I prfipose this evening to discuss that 
ckiss of issues, viz: 

LABOR, FINANCE AND niOTECTION. 

I have been led to the discussion of the ques- 
ti(His liy the ineousiderate and inconsistent zeal 
with which tliey have been pressed as vital is- 
sues by the friends (jf President (Jrant. I can 
understand why it might be the interest of 
financiers, bankers, brokers, speculators, and 
of all who create no wealth, but simply profit by 
the i)roductive industry of the country, to have 
a man of particular tastes and views elected 
J'resident. And I can also understand why it 
might be the interest of the great industrial 
pursuits of the country to have a man of par. 
ticular views and sympathies chosen to the Exe- 
cutive chair. But when we are told, in one 
locality, that the interests of speculative finance 
must elect Gnuit to protect capital from the 
encroachments of labor, and in another local- 
ity tlie same political leadei-s instruct us that 
Grant must be elected to protect our industry 
from the exactions of capital, it is manifest 
that all the various elements of our general 
prosperity are exposed to a common peril. 
And when I see Gen. Grant supported earnestly 
in some States by free traders, liecause Mr_ 
Greeley is a Protectionist, and see Mr. Greeley 



opposed in Pennsylvania because Gen. Grant 
is claimed as the Protective '"•andidate, I am 
forced to the conclusion that tli 'reis dishonesty 
on tlie part of Gen. Grant's friends on one or 
both sides of the question, ami that neither can 
claim any measure of popular respect. Gen. 
Grant may possess rare accomplishments in the 
art of war, but if he can be for capital as against 
labor and for labor as against capital, for free 
trade as against pi'otection, and for protection 
as against free trade, he has attained a degree 
of skill in political economy that must bewilder 
the common-place integrity of the age. [Ap- 
plause. 1 

THE FIELD FOR THE DEMAGOGUE. 

This is an inviting field for the demagogue, 
for cai)ital and hUjor are the most sensitive of 
all our varied interests. Capital is conserva- 
tive ; labor is progressive. Capital shudders at 
all proposed mutations in politics or trade; 
lalior is restless, and yearns for advancement. 
Capital garners in ease and luxury what labor 
has sown and reaped in toil. Capital is repre- 
sented by tlie few— labor by the multitude. 
P.otli are but too often the toys of politicians, 
and both respond with alacrity to any plausible 
cry of danger. Capital is filed into solid 
plialanx by the empty threat of agrariaiiism, 
and labor is inspired with the promise of re- 
alizing the full profits of its industry. Under 
wise laws, justly administered, there can be no 
conflict Ijetween these leading sources of our 
general ])rosperity. but under incompetent 
tinancial officers and blatant demagogues, they 
may be made enemies and suicides. [Applause.] 
The man who appeals to the monied interest to 
combine in a political contest for its special 
nrotec'ion or advancement, is the foe of pros- 
perity of all classes. Equally insincere is the 
man who combines labor in a political con- 
test to make assaults against capital. There 
are times in the ever-changing laws of supply 
and demand when complicated questions may 
arise between employers and employed, but the 
political arena is the last place where they can 
be fairly adjusted. When the selfish, who prey 
upon both capital and labor, have played their 
part on both sides, iu and out of our State and 
National Legislatures, the parties directly iu 
interest must meet face to face at last, and be 
their own arbiters. [Applause.] 
THE ISSUE MADE BY THE GRANT PARTY. 

Let me assure you that these problems are 
much more serious than many men suppose at 
first glance. If it was but necessary to make 
professions to the people, however inconsistent, 
to attain political success, the theory upon 
which these reckless lead ei-s prosecute this con. 
test would be ;> hopeful one, however disrepu- 



table honest men would consider it. But they 
are forgetful that these prolific assurances to 
every interest and faith must be made to men 
of intelligence, of integrity and of decision of 
purpose, and that they w ill not only keenly de- 
tect but fearlessly condemn fraud. Especially 
are capitalists and laborers called upon to con- 
sider soberly their true relations to eacli otlier 
Avlien they are madly arrayed in antagonism by 
unscrupulous politicians or thoughtless Presi- 
dents. I do not mal^e the issue between these 
two important interests. They should ever be 
in harmony, and must prosper or decline to- 
gether. But I must call the attention of both 
the industrial interests and the rnonied inter- 
sets to the fact that tJie issue is made, and per- 
sistently made, by the friends of the Adminis- 
tration. And what is ?till more startling, the 
issue is made with patent dishonesty, for each 
is urged to triumph over the other by the elec- 
tion of President Grant. The financial and 
speculative interests are now being taxed more 
heavily than ever before to sustain money 
against labor, and tlie funds collected from 
financial circles are expended to a large extent 
to convince the industrial interests that they 
must support the same candidate ior President 
to give labor success over capital. 

LABOR OUR SOURCE OF WEALTH AND 
GREATNESS. 

Under our free Institutions labor is educated, 
elevated and well requited, and it is more than 
efpial to its own protection in any just confiict 
with speculative interests. I can understand 
why labor may at times, under a sense of ne- 
cessity, force such a struggle, for it is thrice 
armed for the task, when it has any measure of 
justice on its side ; but wliat excuse can capital 
plead for forcing a needless antagonism that 
must overwhelm it? Our non-productive, or 
speculative classes, are not as one in an hun- 
dred of the great mass of people who make the 
laws and direct the financial and industrial 
policy of the country. Labor is the fountain 
of all our wealth, and of all our national power 
and prosperity. It is the refuge of the nation 
in war ; it is the source of i)rogress in peace. It 
makes the rugged mountains give up their 
boundless riches, and covers the valleys with 
beauty and plenty. It tunes the rude music of 
our forges and the hum of our spindles, and its 
busy tide is about us on every hand. It rears our 
monuments of art, of thrift and of i>rogress. It 
whitens the seas with the ships of our com- 
merce. It makes every blooming rose, every 
golden harvest and every home in the land. 
The song of the iron horse, the cattle on a 
tlumsand hills, the churches and schools of 
every community, are all but tributes to the 
toil that obeys the mandates of an All-wise 
Creator. [Applause.] 

CAPITAL THE PRODUCT OP LABOR. 

Capital is but the product, the hand-maid of 
labor, but it is at times forgetful of its parent- 
age. And it is especially so when it plunges 
itself into i)olitical strife. A calm review of 
the last decade of our history would teach all 
with what wisdom m(niied interests can for- 
bear, when the people are called to the dispas- 
sionate solution of grave political iirohlems. 
The fountain must be consulted by those who 
would api>roi)riate the welcome streams. For 
eleven years the people have given largely of 



their earnings to sustain our free institutions. 
During the last half of that period they have, 
with few exceptions, felt the sore exactions ne- 
cessary to preserve our (government and its 
credit. During the whole of that period 
monied centres have steadily and largely in- 
creased their profits. Indeed the nation notes 
the significant fact, that as political power 
moves towards centralization, the monied 
power of the country not only moVes with it, 
but leads the way, and it is usually the first 
power of the country that is forgetful of the su. 
preme sovereignty of the nation. [Applause.] 
Because the I'rcsident sees fit to reward the 
munificence of monied men with social and po- 
litical honoi-s, may impress a limited class of 
voters with the necessity of supporting his re- 
election; but the millions who value govern- 
ment for its inherent and e(iual l)lessings, will 
not deem it an argument eitlier for or against 
any financial theory. They will not vote for a 
man because bankers, brokers, or speculators 
demand his success, nor will tliey for that rea- 
son vote against him. But they will do what 
they have ever done, and ever will do under 
our Government— make their own financial 
pohcy aiul enforce it. [Cheers and applause.] 

SPECULATIVE INTERESTS AGAINST PRO- 
GRESS. 

In 1S60 I \\as charged with the management 
of the political campaign in this State by the 
friends of Mr. Lincoln, and was thereby brought 
into close relations with tlie business and politi- 
cal circles of this city. I cannot now recall 
one i)romineut banker, and but few leading 
business men, who supported theRepublican can- 
didate. They imagined then, as some imagine 
now, that the whole country takes its inspira- 
tion from the manipulation of currency and 
coin. Judge Kelley was barely saved that 
year, because financial circles pronounced him 
an agitator. They were too conservative to recog- 
nize accomplished facts, and they trembled at 
the possible fluctuations in interest, exchange 
and trade. It was then not respectable to be 
anti-slavery. [Laughter.] To be respectable 
was to be conservative, and to be conservative 
was to be anti-republican. The country never 
had been republican— therefore it would be a 
violent and dangerous innovation to have it re- 
publican. [Laughter.] The people saw that 
an "irrepressible conflict" was at hand, and 
they accepted it. Commerce and finance would 
not see it and would not accept it, but it came 
nevertheless. When it came it brought its log- 
ical results. Old things passed away. War 
came, and financial circles predicted ruin. 
When S50,000,000 were wanted to maintain the 
Government financial circles rejected it; but in 
a little time it began to be understood that 
money needed government quite as much as 
the people needed it. The loan was grudgingly 
taken, and the people absorbed it. Then for 
the first time financial circles discovered that 
the country was made up of peojile, and that 
they were really patriotic and intelligent, as 
well as useful. [ Applause. ] 

FINANCE TAUGHT BY THE PEOPLE. 

Gradually the financiers learned a little more. 
They discovered that the people who had. revo- 
lutionized the Government in defiance of mon- 
etary circles fully understood what they meant 
to do, and that they were fully equal to the exe- 



3 



cution of their |)iiri»ise.s. [Applause.] "When 
war came tlu'.v had soldiers ready for the sacri- 
liee. When taxes had to be imposed they were 
ready to pay them. When loans had to be dis- 
posed of they were ready to purchase them. 
But still witli reluctance and hesitation finan- 
cial circles followed liehind the peopled It be- 
came necessary finally to subordinate the whole 
tinancial system of the country to the common 
safety. Then linanciers and speculators decided 
that innovations must cease. A depreciated 
currency was tlie harvf st of bankers at the cost 
of tlie legitimate business interests of the 
country, and the GovernnuMit was threatened 
with a tinancial revolt. Excepting only those 
directly associated with the Government in the 
sale of our securities, the entire financial inter- 
ests of tlie nation protested and i mbarrassed 
the adoption of the national banking system. 
But the representatives of the people enacted 
the Banking law notwithstanding the deter- 
mined hostility of our monetary interests, and 
crushed out all the old tinancial tlieories. [Ap 
plause.] Again financiers discovered that 
there was a supreme power somewhere that 
they had until then overlooked. In due time 
money adjusted itself to the interests of the 
people, as it will be glad to do just as often as 
the country shall choose to change its policy. 
[Applause.] 

THE APPKO.VCH TO SPECIE PAYMENTS. 

It was so with tlie approach to the resumption 
of specie payments. Financial circles were 
often convulsed with the problem, but the peo- 
)ile were calm and undisturbed. They under- 
stood the (luestion on sound common-sense 
principles. They knew tliat an honest and 
frugal individual wliose revenues exceede liis 
expenditures, must liave good credit and pay 
Ins debts, and that tlie same rule applied fully 
to governments. They meant to enforce honest 
government, and they meant to pay suflicient 
taxes to make a certain and continued reduc- 
ti(Ui of the public delH. They knew therefore 
that the specie standard of value would come 
just as soon as it was best it sliould come, and 
that it would come without convulsion in 
tlie natural cliannels of industry and trade. 
Tliey dismissed the problem because its solution 
was self evident. Not so with our financial cir- 
cles. They were convulsed weekly or monthly 
over some new and startling theory, toucliing 
our monetary affairs. They searched the wars 
of ancient and modern history to ascertain how 
other nations had done, and gold was tossed 
about at fabulous premiums, simply because 
great financiers were ever convulsing them- 
selves altout the troutiles they were constantly 
making for themselves. Had theyunderstood the 
IVnmtain of all power and credit in our Govern- 
ment, tliey would have known that the people 
had not sacrified hundreds of thousands of 
lives and thousands of millions of treasure to 
save the Kepublic, merely to destroy it by dis- 
lionoring its faith. [Applause.] 

Here and there politicians, with no more 
knowledge of the integrity of the people than 
financiers had, proposed various plausible 
measures of indirect repudiation ; but the peo- 
ple repudiated the repudiators. In the mean- 
time our financial operators and monetary 
writers exhausted all the theories of the darlc 

Jaiiiii^LMnMiMiiMMiMMMiiiiir'''^ 1'^'^" 



cedents of the i)resent century, to find some 
path for reaching specie payments. They were 
ever forgetful that the people of this country 
had fought a great war against all tlie prece- 
dents of liistory; that they had won it against 
all the precedents of history, and that they had 
paid for it against all the precedents 
of history. Finally they awoke from 
their disturbed dream to discover that they 
had nothing whatever to do with the approach 
to specie payments. By perfectly natural re- 
sults, following legitimate causes, unheralded 
and without violence, our securities reached 
par in gold, and we had practically attained 
a specie standard without so much as a riiiple 
on the financial surface. [Applause.] 

THE PEOPLE DECIDE OUR FINANCIAL 
POLICY. 

I do not assume to define wliat particular 
financial policy our country should adoi)t, but 
I do assume to solve just that particular part 
of our financial problem that is so plain that he 
who runs may read it, and yet the part that 
our financial circles least consider and under" 
stand. It is this: Whether Mr. Greeley or Gen. 
Grant shall be chosen President, the flminclal 
policy of the 7iationivill not he moulded either 
by tlie President or tlie Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, but liy the people throuyh their represen- 
tatives. The executive and the financial se- 
cretary may recommend, but they do not frame 
our laws touching our finances. It is their duty 
to execute the laws — not to make them, and in- 
stances are not rare, even under the present 
Aduiinistratiou, when Congress not oidy exer- 
cised its own judgment in (tpposition to the se- 
cretary, but directed him to halt or advance in 
operatingour loans, and instructed him in what 
particular manner he should execute the laws 
for his depatrment. 

This power of the people has been exercised 
since the organization of the Government, and 
it will be exercised while the Republic endures. 
When increased taxes are necessary Congress 
provides them, and when loans are to be made 
or exchanged, the Secretary is instructed not 
only to handle the loans, but also in what par- 
ticular manner they shall be handled. When 
gold is to be sold he is instructed as to how and 
when to make the sales. And when any finan- 
cial operation is ordered, and it is not done sa- 
tisfactorily, the authority is revoked or suspend- 
ed. This was done with Mr. Boutwell recently. 
A law was enacted directing the conversion of 
our six per cents into loans bearing a lower 
rate of interest. It was specifically provided at 
what price new bonds should be sold, and the 
maximum cost of converting the loans was 
fixed. Limited discretionary power was of ne- 
cessity conferred upon the Secretary, but the 
supreme control of the whole operation was 
jealously reserved to the representatives of the 
people. An incompetent Secretary of the Trea- 
sury wasted the money authorized to be ex- 
pended ill converting the loan, or most of it, 
and the loans were not taken. Mr. Boutwell, 
in the exercise of the limited powers conferred 
upon him, peddled our securities though the 
great money markets of the Old World, until 
our national credit was likely to sufter incal- 
culably by the confessed imbecility that ruled 
in the management of our finances. 

iMimwiyiMi 



THE LEDGER CONDEMNS MR. BOUTWELL. 
Just then the Lclf/er, of this city, owned by 
Mr. A. J. Drexel and Mr. George "\V. Cliilds, 
tlius commented on the policy of the Adminis- 
tration in handling our securities: 

"There are no national bonds more reliable 
than those of the United States, and none 
should command higher credit,nor would they.if 
Cinigross and ourown ollicials would but evince 
a proper appreciation of their true value. To 
he continuaUij offerinr/ our securities in foreign 
markets with increased 2}>'omises as iiow re- 
commended by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
is not the way to imjvove the national credit. 
Capitalists, the world over, look to certainty of 
payment rather than to large annual return's or 
the convenience of the place of payment of in- 
terest, and In/ a proper appreciation at home of 
this importantfact o^n* bonds unll attract more 
takers on better terms than throu{ili negotiators 
abroad or by follovvng holders, cap and- money 
in hand, to London. The Ledger is not alone 
in its opposition to this i)roposed iiaynient of 
the national interest abroad. The Boston Ad- 
vertiser says it is 'a step which we have always 
and earnestly ojijiosed as beneatli the dignity 
of the Government and as giving anoi)ening io 
fraud and conij)lications witli foreign bankers.' 
The Journal oj Commerce and all the papers of 
highest remite, not within tlie influence of the 
'ring' that hopes to proflt from the project, 
make the same opposition." 

INCOMPETENCY CALLS FOR A "SYNDI- 
CATE." 

The sequel fully .sustained the strictures of 
the Ledger, and Mr. Boutwell had to resort to 
the most contemptible financial jugglery to 
save his incompetency from bringing the coun- 
try to public dishonor. After he liad exhausted 
his efforts to handle the loan, and made not 
only financial circles but the people tremble 
for the safety of our credit, he became an easy 
prey to the persuasions of the "Syndicate." He 
had no money to pay for negotiating tlie loan, 
for he had squandered it on what proved to 
be merely squandering our national credit. 
[Applause.] The "Syndicate" was not willing 
to wield its power from considerations of pa- 
triotism. It would supply the business skill 
and financial cntrol which should have been 
possessed in a pre-eminent degree by the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury only on condition that 
it should be wtll paid. But wherewitli could 
Mr. Boutwell pay? 

The financial skill of the "Syndicate" was 
equal to the emergency, and Mr. Boutwell was 
taught how to do a lawless act nnder the color, 
or rather under the shade, of law. The "Syn- 
dicate" agreed to take the five per cents at par, 
and credit the Treasury at once witli over 
$100,000,000 of gold, with the private condition 
that the money should not be drawn for ninety 
days. In the meantime the "Syndicate" drew 
gold interest on the bonds for ninety days before 
it paid a dollar to the Treasury, and Mr. Bout- 
well was also paying interest on a like sum of 
the old loan, that should have been redeemed 
by the proceeds of the sale to the "Syndicate." 
By this flnancial operation Mr. Boutwell paid 
double gold interest for three months on over 
S100,000,000 of our debt, and the "Syndicate" 
pocketed nearly $1,500,000 of it. It was a trans- 
action wholly unauthorized by law, and a 
shameful confession of tlie utter inability of the 
Administration to manage our finances. Con- 
gress very properly exercised its autliority by 
instructing Mr. Boutwell to cease such finan- 
ciering. [A lause. ] 



WHY THE SYNDICATE FAVORS GR.\NT. 

It is not wonderful that our great bankers 
and brokers should want the rule of incom- 
petency to continue under General Grant and 
Mr. Boutwell. Mr. Jay Cooke Is one of our 
most reputable and successful banker?. The 
Government gave its credit into his hands as 
his capital, and he used it wisely and w^ell, and 
reaped a liberal reward, as he deserved. Had 
he been Secretary of the Treasury he would 
have handled the loans himself promptly and 
economically. [Applause.] He and his brother, 
Gov. H. I). Cooke, of the First National Bank 
of Washington, were the master spirits of the 
"Syndicate." They were able to do what Mr. 
Boutwell could not do, and they were paid no 
more than such a service, rendered by in- 
dividuals to individuals, or to a government, 
was worth. They were competent ; Mr. Bout- 
well was incompetent, and Mr. Boutwell paid 
the "Syndicate" nearly one and a half millions 
as the price of his incompetency. [Applause.] 
Mr. Boutwell favored the transaction because he 
was unfitted to cope with the moiiied combina- 
tions of the world, even with all the resources 
and moral force of a great government to sup- 
port him. The "Syndicate" favored it because 
it was profitable, and to that organization Gen. 
Grant's administration of the finances is most 
satisfactory. With one accord its members 
will demand that our monetary affairs shall 
not be convulsed by a political revolution. 
[Laughter and applause.] 

THE SYNDICATE IS GRATEFUL. 
And let it not be said that the "Syndicate" is 
ungrateful. It is faithful to the Administra- 
tion that gives it prosperity,and it prays for the 
gift of continuance. [Laughter.] I have be- 
fore me a circular, Avhich I am credibly assured 
is genuine, issued by Gov. H. D. Cooke. It 
reads as follows : 

"Jat Cooke & Co., Bankers, 
"Fifteenth street, 
"Washington, r>. C, July 19, 1872. 
"Hon. and Dear Sir: I am directed by the 
Republican Congressional Committee to so- 
licit from you a subscription of SlOO, this being 
the amouiit which, by general understanding. 
Senators and members agree they will pay 
said committee toward defraying the expenses 
of the pending Presidential campaign. Please 
remit at your convenience and oolige, 
"Yours very truly, 
"H. D. Cooke, Treasurer." 

The circular was not sent to the members of 
the "Syndicate," but to more humble depend- 
ents of power. The leading members of that 
organization were called upon for thousands 
instead of hundreds, and within two weeks 
the head of the "Syndicate" has been the re- 
cipient of large collections, and given in large 
sums, to sustain the financial interests of the 
country, after the manner of the "Syndicate," 
[Applause.] 

- THE MONEY ORGAN ON LABOR. 

When the munitions of war had been pro- 
vided, the sober North American awoke from 
its normal dream a«nd rushed into the fight in 
behalf of our flnancial interests. It is the ac- 
knowledged organ of money. In its columns of 
the 4th inst. it makes the issue distinctly be- 
tween our monetary and our industrial classes. 
In a leading editorial of that date it says: 

" In the campaign uf^w pending in this Com- 
monwealth Mr. Buckalevi is as clearly the 



encmii of active c(ij)it((l <tx uninnan rrcr wkk 
It htdkx's no fl/fferencc. irhat dctnand man lie 
iiuiili- III/ political inci'iKliarics, ivliethcr it he 
the restriction of tlie /loiirs of labor to cifilit 
or sir, or Jour lionrt< a (hui, or {liriiiu tlie ope- 
ratire a sliare in tlie profits of a concern to 
v'hich lie contrilnited not a dollar of capital, 
Mr. Bnckalew is for it. The vote of the ope- 
rative is to liini of vastly more conseiiuenee 
tliaii tlie vote of the cajiitaiist, only for the 
reason that there are more operatives than 
eai)italists.'' 

After thus siimmarilydisposing of the "politi- 
cal incendiaries," commonly known as laboring 
men, it calls, upon capitalists and manufac- 
turers to repudiate Mr. Buckalevv, because lie 
is "t/te representative man, at this time, of that 
class of dangerous demagognes vihose influ- 
ence led to tlie secret organization of the 
miners.'' [Applause.] 

"syndicate" money for "hokny-fisted 
incendiarie8." 

For what purpose did the "Syndicate" contri- 
bute so lavishly to the treasury of the Grant 
politicians? tV'rtainly not to insi)ire, or de- 
bauch, monetary circles. Surely not to cor- 
rupt manufacturers and merchants. Tliere 
are those who will see, and who will consider, 
who will make comparisons even if they should 
be odious. Just when the "Syndicate" was 
paying liberally to sustain the Administration 
because of the safety of "Syndicates" under 
its incompetent Galiinet officers, and when the 
"Syndicate" organ was aroused to denounce 
the "political incendiaries," known among the 
people as men who labor for their bread, the 
Grant managers were employing the "Syndi- 
cate" contributions to buy sundry straggling 
pretended leaders of the "political incendia- 
ries." [Applause.] They were paid largely to 
sell out some thousands of likely, bronzed, 
horny-fisted "incendiaries" to vote the Grant 
ticket, and thus uKiiutain the present linancial 
policy of the country. [Laughter.] Perhaps 
the "incendiaries" may obstinately refuse to be 
delivered, but the "Syndicate" has done its 
duty. It will lose an election, but it will have 
the consolation that it was not for want of 
money to corrupt labor to obey the arrogance 
of centralized capital. [Applause.] 

THE ATTEMPTED FRAUD L'l'ON LABOR. 

How palpably and unblushingly double-faced 
are the Grant leaders in their appeals for votes 
may be seen at a glance liy the proceedings of 
the Grant convention lield among the "political 
incendiaries" and "dangerous demagogues," 
in Schuylkill county last week. After fusing 
with the "incendiaries" and "demagogues" on 
the important nominations, the Grant conven- 
tion passed the fllowing among other resolut- 
ions: 

Resolved, That true labor reform Is ad- 
rnnced He J lublicnnism, and that the interests 
of labor will be best forwarded by the party 
which has elevated and dignilled it and in- 
creased its rewards, and thrown open the broad 
lands of the National diunain for its occupancy 
at only a nominal cost, thus all'ording literally 
free homesteads to all. 

Is all this varied duplicity essential to main- 
tain the present linancial policy of the country? 
Is it an honest policy that thus proclaims its 
purpose to defraud one of two classes? Can 
it be a just or wise policy that cannot trust its 
eautse to the dispassionate judgment of the peo- 
ple? Must men be deceived to preserve their 



that looks solely to the iiower and prosperity of 
centralized capital, at the cost of the productive 
industry of the country, to be vindicated by 
mingled debauchery and deceit? These grave 
questions will be answered, not by the arro- 
gance of those who have unwisely assumed that 
we are a mere nation of hewers of wood and 
drawers of water for speculators, but by the 
thoughtful, iiatriotic ])eople who accept in- 
dustry, in all its varied channels, as the life, the 
wealth, the honor and the safety of the re- 
public. [Oheers and applause.] 
THE ADMONITION OF HONEST FINANCE. 

It is not remarkal;>le that, with such supreme 
folly committed in the name of our linancial 
interests, the New York Financier, the mone- 
tary organ of the country, should have felt 
called upon recently to raise its protest again.st 
disturl)ing money ami trade by plunging 
them into poliiics. In a late issue that journal 
said : 

"Nothingwe have said on political subjects 
can be so interpreted as to seem anything but 
the impartial criticism which alone the Finan- 
cier proposes to use, and we are, therefore, the 
more free to say that noliod ii need fear a gene- 
ral convulsion of finance and business in con- 
sequence of the election, let that result as it 
mail. There is some disturbance, but that 
comes from uncertainty, not from fear 'of a 
possilile coming <Mlamity.' The country will 
outlast either (! rant or (ireeley, and it lias cer- 
tainly proved its vitality and endurance under 
the former. But it is certainly disgusting to 
see the orators and organs coiulucting the cam- 
])aignso muchou the 'you're another' princi- 
ple, and using so much' dressing for so little 
truth. Tlie r/i/fcs makes this ridiculous jilea, 
in the expectation that people who never look 
at financial <iuotatioiis will believe it and quote 
it, and so they will." 

The elaborate article from which I quote was 
doubtless called out by the public declaration 
of Mr. Clews, an English banker, in the New 
York Grant Convention, that a particular can- 
didate must be nominated for Governor to sat- 
isfy the speculative interests of Wall street, and 
by the concerted movement of vast speculative 
organizations to control the pending political 
contest on the false plea of averting linancial 
revulsion. If our great financial circles would 
preserve the confidence of the productive in- 
terests of the country, they will withdraw from 
a struggle in which they can win but defeat 
and disorder. [Applause.] They live and profit 
largely by the industry and thrift of the people, 
and wanton conflict is but the act of the sui- 
cide. Neither can be prosperous save in con- 
cord with the other. The one is the fountain 
of our prosperity ; the other is but the incident 
of the nation's greatness. Let us be wiser 
than our greed or our prejudices, and the har- 
mony of capital and labor will nn'.ke us truly 
and permanently prosperous. [Cheers and aii- 
plause. ] 

AN HONEST FINANCIAL POLICY. 

I believe that the new Secretary of the 
Treasury, to be qualified on the 4tli of March 
next. Mill not handle the national securities or 
manage our finances in imitation of Mr. Bout- 
well. He will be likely to respect the criticisms 
of the Ledger and look to the appreciation of 
our loans at home, and thereby trust the source 
of our wealth rather than those, who would 
speculate upon it, and who of necessity direct 
all financial operations for the advantage of a 



6 



administration no one will venture to re-enact 
the eonvulsion of the "Black Friday"' that made 
business interests tremble from centre to cir- 
cumference under the manipulations of reck- 
less speculators who believed that th'^vhad bar- 
gained with the Government for protection; 
nor will speculative combinations seize the cur- 
rency of the country to precipitate financial 
distress and to profit by the destruction or em- 
ban assment of all legitimate enterprise. [Ap- 
plause.] 

He will disturb no legitimate channels of 
business or trade, but he will prove what has 
often been proven l)efore, that the people can 
calmly and peacefully change their political 
policy witliout in any way disturbing finances, 
commerce or industry. Speculators may dis- 
turb tliemselves for a few days, as they did 
when Mr. Lincoln was elected, and when the 
National banking system was enacted, but 
they will see the country move on harmoni- 
ously in its great pursuits, and soon learn that 
nobody is alarmed but themselves. Then they 
will conclude that, after all, it is safe and re- 
spectable to have faithful and competent states- 
men to administer the Government. 

BUSINESS IXTERESTS PERILED BV INCOM- 
PETENCY. 

But there are others besides bankers, brokers 
and speculators who are largely interested in the 
stability of our financial i)olicy. Our commer 
cial and manufacturing classes do not profit by 
the negotiation of loans, but they do profit by 
wisdom in our rulers. What safety can our 
vast and varied business interests, or even our 
speculative interests, feel with a Cabinet that is 
dwarfed into pitible littleness when it comes in 
contact with the statesmansliip of Europe? 
What a fearful penalty was paid by all business 
classes because of the confessed incompetency 
of the Secretary of State in the management of 
the Washington treaty ! When the whole coun- 
try rejoiced that peace had been assured, he 
taught us the consequential damages of Im- 
becile diplomacy. For months all great oper;v 
tions were suspended. Negotiation of all se- 
curities was arrested, and commerce and trade, 
and speculation as weli, hung in suspense while 
stupidity struggled to escape from itself. [Ap- 
plause. ] 

True, there was a large measure of conti- 
dence felt throughout that all would be well in 
the end, but it was the sound .sense of civilized 
nations that was trusted— not the skill or wis- 
dom of our Caliinet. And when tranquility was 
finally restored, it was by atoning for our 
blunder at a cost that mere millions could not 
cover. 
CAPITAL AND BUSINESS IN THE SOUTH. 

And look at the South. Our capitalists have 
hundreds of millions invested in State and 
other securities there, and our industry should 
now be largely employed in repairing the waste 
of war in that section. Their railroads have 
been restored and equipped by Northern capi- 
tal and labor, and prosperity must be given 
those States to requite the energy of our peo- 
ple. Already many millions have been lost by 
the depreciation of Southern State bonds, and 
large investments made in railroads and other 
legitimate pursuits looking for reward by the 
restoration of the South to thrift, have been un- 



ciated wealth have lost by their Southern enter- 
prises, but the Northern people have been com- 
pelled to bear all the exactions of the Govern- 
ment because of the continued reign of desola- 
tion there. The States lately in rebellion should 
now be contributing largely to the expenses of 
the whole Union, and also to the reduction of 
our National debt. 

Why is it that millions have been lost in their 
depreciated or almost valueless securities? 
Why is it that the large investments made there 
in legitimate pursuits are profitless? Why is it 
that the South continues unproductive and 
bears no just share of the taxes imposed ui)on 
the country? Why is it that this vast and in- 
viting field for our Northern capital, commerce 
and industry, is still languishing in poverty 
more than seven years after the clash of arms 
has ceased? Will our capitalists, our mer- 
chants, our manufacturers, our speculators and 
our tax-payers soberly consider and answer 
these grave questions in the light of reason and 
patriotism? These monuments of withered waste 
and consuming shame have been reared by the 
carpet-bagger ; and he has been maintained in 
power, often at the sacrifice of law and decency, 
by tiie Grant Administration. [Applause.] 
To save him from the just condemnation of the 
people, the civil authority has been suspended, 
bayonets have usurped the ballot, and despot- 
ism has sunk deep into the policy of the Gov- 
ernment. Can capital and commerce and tax- 
payers consent to four years more of hopeless 
debauchery and profligacy, and desolation in 
the South? If not, a change of our National 
rulers is an imperative necessity. [Applause.] 

SPECULATION AND LEGITIMATE FINANCE. 

The nation in the decision of political 
issues, will not fail to distinguish between the 
mere clamor of speculation and the legitimate 
financial iutei-ests of the country. Speculative 
interests look to centralization—legitimate 
finance looks to harmony and mutual prosper- 
ity with the great sources of our wealth. Spe- 
culation is the foe of industry— legitimate 
finance is the friend of labor, for labor is the 
life of its opei'ation. Speculation is clamorous, 
arrogant, and hurls its impotent threats at the 
"political incendiaries" and "dangerous dema- 
gogues" who create the very wealth it enjoys— 
legitimate finance, welcomes the advancement 
of labor and shares its success. Speculation 
may be restrained by the people by their choice 
of our next President ; but legitimate capital 
and labor will rejoice that the harmony of our 
great elements of prosperty has been fully 
assured. [Applause.] 

PROTECTION AND FREE TRADE. 
Let us consider the issue of Protection and 
Free Trade as presented in this contest. I 
have consistently and earnestly, in my humble 
way, supported the Protective policy, and shall 
ever do so. As a friend of Protection, I ask 
the serious attention of its supporters, who 
favor the election of Grant, to the grave perils 
they are inviting to the cause. Can they close 
their eyes to the fact that the Philadelphia 
Grant platform is as positively claimed for 
Free Tr ide in the West and South, as it is 
claimed for Protection in Pennsylvania? He 
who carefully reads it cannot fail to see that it 
is most ingeniously worded to be susceptible 



t 



"7. The .annual revonues, after paying 
ciiriTnt expenditures, pensions and tlie interest 
on tlie public debt, should furnish a moderate 
balance for tlie reduction of tlie principal, and 
that revenue, excejit so niucli as may be de- 
rived from a tax njion tobacco and li(|uors, 
s/io)ilfl lip ra/aed hi/ ilut/es upon /in/nirtiitions, 
the (h'tails of ir/i/ch n/tiiuhl he so (uliii.-iti'il as to 
aid in sreiirinfi reunincnitire innjesto lahor, 
and promote i/te inilitstries, prosperity and 
c/roirt/t oft/ie uiiole conntrii." 

Is tliis in any sense a resolution favoring i)ro- 
teetion? What labor is to be compensated? 
What industry is to be made prosperous? Is 
it to apply to the men who make iron and pro- 
duce coal, or to the men wlio use iron and coal 
in their industry? Here we are told it is the 
one class— in tlie West, the friends of the same 
platform and candidates say it is the other 
class, f the resolution meaus anything it is 
that the question of revenue is paramount, and 
a revenue tariff looks to ad valorem instead of 
sjiecific duties— just what fails to protect our 
industry when it is most needed, and protects 
excessively when it is not needed. It does not 
in any express terms declare for Protection or 
for any one of the distinctive features of Pro- 
tection, nor.does it imply Protection any more 
than it does free trade. It was just such a 
tariff resolution that deceived Pennsylvania in 
1844, and lost the country the Protective tariff 
of 1842. If Grant and the party sustaining him 
are for itrotection as a party, would they have 
resorted to such strangely ambiguous lan- 
guage to express their faith? And would men 
supporting the same candidate and the same 
declaration of principles declare for protection 
in one part of the Union and for free trade in 
another section, as do the advocates of (Irant? 
Manifestlii either t/ie J'rotectionists or the 
free Traders are to he cheated hij the 
Grant j^latform. Which is to be be. 
frayed? The candidate affords no solution 
of the problem, for if lie knows what his 
views are he has never expressed them. [Aii- 
idause.] lie has yet the first utterance to make 
in favor of a tariff for the sake of protection. 
Not so with Mr. Greeley. [Cheers and ap- 
plause.] Are his life-long, consistent and mas- 
terly efforts for distinctive protection to weigh 
nothing in the contest against an ambiguous 
platform and a doubtful candidate? 

1)0 CJrant men, who so zealously attempt to 
identify his cause with protection, forget that 
every argument they make on this issue must 
vindicate Mr. Greeley as the candidate entitled 
to the support of protectionists? If he canii(.)t 
justly claim such support, upon wliat ground 
can Grant claim it? Mr. Greeley has fought the 
battle of protection to American labor with 
tireless energy and supreme ability for nearly 
forty years,and it has not achieved a triumph in 
that time that he did not greatly aid. What 
has Grant done or said for ])rotection? He has 
approved every tariff bill that Congress has 
passed, but has never yet plead the cause of 
protection. Will he veto any modiftcation of the 
tariff looking to the revenue standard? Does 
he say or intimate so, or dare any friend of his 
say or intimate so for him? Let me warn the 
friends of i)rotcction that its gravest danger is 
indeliberate frauds and indii'ect assaults such 
as were studiedly attempted by the Grant Con- 
vention. 

THE LIBERAL. PLATFORM HONEST. 

T do not (daim that the wjiole Liberal party, 



as a party, s for protection. If 1 were to say 
so I would be guilty of the same palpable false- 
hood that the Grant men commit when they 
ask the exclusive support of Protectionists for 
their candidate. At Cincinnati some of the 
more unscrupulous Free Traders made a de- 
termined effort to pass just sucli a resolution 
as was adopted by the Grant convention, 
They argued, as do the Grant men, that an 
ambiguous resolution, capable of being con- 
strued for or against protection, was the plat- 
form to win on, but the Liberal convention re- 
fused to stamp its party with deliberately 
planned fraud. [Applause.] We Protection- 
ists in that body said: "We know that all 
parties are divided on the question; that any 
resolution that will satisfy all must mean to 
cheat one side or the other, and that the only 
honest way is to remit the issue to the people, 
where it properly belongs, and where it will al- 
ways be eout rolled regardless of Presidents. 
This advice prevailed, and an honest resolution 
was almost unanimously passed. True, it was 
objected to, and the chief of the objectors was 
Judge Stanley Matthews, who would be satis- 
fied with nothing less than a positive expres- 
sion against tlie "Pennsylvania Pig Iron 
Iling," as he called it in a speech to the con- 
vention. Failing to get Free Trade adopted as a 
cardinal article of the Liberal faith, he bolted 
from the body, and is now stumping Ohio for 
Grant and Free Trade. [Applause.] Our 
offense to him was the nomination of a pro- 
nounred Protectionist for President, and as a 
disciple ot Free/Lrade he pleads the cause of 
Grant. Is he cheated, or is Protection 
cheated? 
Here is the Cincinnati resolution: 

C. We demand a system ot federal taxation 
which shall not unnecessarily interfere with 
the industrv of the people, and wliich shall pro- 
vide tlie means necessary to pay the expenses 
of thefiovernment, economically administered, 
the pensions, tlie interest on the public debt, 
and a moderate reduction annually of the prin- 
cipal thereof; arvl reeoiinizinfi that tliereare 
in our midst Iionest hut irreconrilahle differ- 
ences of opinion with regard to the respective, 
si/stetiis of protection and free trade, %ne remit 
tlie disctfssion of tlicsidijccttotlie peoplein their 
Cojv/ressional <fistricts and the decision of Con- 
f/rcss thereon, whoUi/ free from Fxecutiiv inter- 
ference or dictation. 

Is it not honest? Is it not manly and une- 
quivocal? It recognizes the fact that the Libe- 
rals, like the Grant party and the Democrats, 
are honestly divided, and makes no attempt to 
deceive any voter. It does not defraud the _ 
people by assuming that a President can make 
or destroy protection ; but it notities the people 
of their obviously just responsibility touching 
the issue. When protection was assailed dur- 
ing the lastsession of Congress, did our Penn- 
sylvania friends appeal to the President? Kot 
at all, for they knew that he could not and 
would not array himself against Congress on so 
vital a question as that of taxation and reve- 
nue. They appealed to the people's representa- 
tives, and there saved protection from the 
assaults of many leading Free Traders who are 
zealously supporting Grant's re-election. The 
people were then confessedly, through their 
Congressmen, the only power that could save 
our industry. They have ever controlled, and 
ever will control the question, despite party 
platforms or professions. [.■Applause.] 



8 



THE DAKGEK TO TROTECTION. 

We should deal candidly with this momen- 
tous question. Let us not close our eyes to the 
fact that distinctive protection has ever been, 
and I fear ever will be, practically subordi- 
nated in our national legislation, to the more 
sensitive considerations of taxation and reve- 
nue. It is wrong that it should be so, but it is 
so, and has been so. While I believe that a de- 
cided majority of the American people prefer 
protection to free trade, yet the constant 
struggles of various channels of industry or 
trade to escape or lessen taxation, have often 
made Kepresentatives yield the great question 
to local or special interests. And in this is the 
supreme danger to the policy of protection, 
and the only safety is the election of faithful 
Congressmen. In a word, the people must 
zealously guard protection in choosing their 
representatives, or the tireless efforts of free 
trade will eventually succeed. Just now pro- 
tection has a positive advantage in the contest. 
The necessary reduction of our debt, the ex- 
traordinary expenses of the Government aris- 
ing from war, pensions, etc., and the popular 
aversion to inquisitorial or direct taxes,demand 
heavy duties on imports; but we must bear in 
mind tliat even with the large revenues re- 
(luired, protection is assailed each year in Con- 
gress, and only well-directed vigilance has 
saved it. Frotection, as well as all other direct 
or incidental features of our policy of ta.xation, 
depends entirely upon the people— just where 
the Liberal platform i)laces it ;and it is not only 
supreme folly, but it is suicidal, to make the 
issue in a Presidential contest, especially 
for a candidate who is not a Protectionist, and 
against a inan who has devoted his lite to the 
advocacy of the policy. Eesolve as we may 
in party platforms, whether manfully and 
honestly, or ingeniously and fraudulently, the 
peojjle must maintain or destroy Protection, 
and no Executive can save or overthrow it 
against their representatives. [Applause.] 
LINCOLN TEACHES THE POWER OP THE 
PEOPLE. 

On this point the admonition of tlie lamented 
Lincoln is most pertinent. In 1848 the Whigs 
nominated General Taylor for President. His 
friends were divided on many questions, and 
they avoided attempted deception by not adopt- 
ing any platform. Mr. Lincoln was then in 
Congress, and delivered a speech in the House 
on the 27th of July, 1848, in which he most 
pointedly demonstrated where the power of 
the nation is to be found and by whom it must 
l)e exercised. He not only taught the true doc- 
trine then, but the sacred observance of it when 
President was the secret of the success of his 
.administration. He faithfully followed the 
people in moulding the policy of the Govern- 
ment, and they sustained him with unexam- 
pled devotion. [Applause.] 

Speaking in defense of General Taylor as a 
Presidential candidate, he said: 

"Gen. Taylor in his Allison letter says: 

'ITpon the subject of the tariff, the currency, 
the improvement of our great highways, rivers, 
lakes and harbors, the will of the people as ex- 
pressed through their Kepresentatives in Con- 
gress, ought to be respected and carried out by 
the Executive.' 

Now this is the whole matter in substance, it 
is this: The people say to Gen. Taylor, "If vou 
are elected, shall we have a National Bank?" 
He answers, 'Your will, gentlemen, not »ime.' 



t Airi 4- 



'Shall our rivers and harbors be iini)roved'." 
'Just as you please. If you desire a bank, an 
alteration of the tariff, internal improvements, 
any or all, I will not hinder you. If you do not 
desire them, I will not attempt to force them on 
you. Send up your members of Congress from 
the varit>us districts, with opinions according 
to your own,aiul if tliey are tor these measures, 
or anv of them, I shall have nothing to oppose. 
If they are not for them, I shall not, by any 
appliances whatever, attempt to dragoon them 
into their adoption. 

"Now, can there be any diftieulty in under- 
standing this? * * * We see it, and to us it 
appears like principle, and the best sort of prin- 
ciple at that— the principle of allowing the 
people to do as they please with their own 
business. 

"My friend from Indiana (Mr. C. B. Smith) 
has aptly asked, 'Are you willing to trust the 
people? ' Some of you answered substantially. 
We are willing to trust the people, but the 
President is as much the representative of tiie 
people as Congress. In a certain sense, and to 
a certain extent lie is the representative of the 
people. He is elected by them as well as C!on- 
gress is. But can he, in the nature of things, 
know the wants of people as well as three hun- 
dred other men, coming from all the various 
localities of the nation? If so, where is the 
propriety of having a Congress? That the Con- 
si itution gives the President a negative on leg- 
islation, all know, but thar this negative should 
be so combined with platforms and other ap- 
pliances as to enable him, and. in fact, almost 
compel him to take the whole of legislation into 
his own hands, is what we object to, is what 
Gen. Taylor objects to, and is what constitutes 
the broad distinction between you and us. To 
thus irnmfer legislation, is clearltj to take it 
from tliose iclio understand with minuteness 
the interests of t/ie people and give it to one who 
does not and cannot so well understand it." 

THE PEOPLE THE EOUNTAIN OF ALL 
POWER. 

It will be seen that the Cincinnati platform 
on the tariff is not novel either in policy or 
practice. It does in express terms what Mr. 
Lincoln and the Whigs advocated in 1848, and 
it enunciates the great principle of the sover- 
eign jjower of the people, which in tliese days 
both rulers and speculative interests have been 
prone to overlook. Never were more truthful 
or wise words uttered than those by Mr. Lin- 
coln when speaking of the theory that the Ex- 
ecutive may dictate the legislation of the coun- 
try, he said: "To thus transfer legislation 
(from Congress to the President) is clearly to 
take it from those who understand Mith mi- 
nuteness the interests of the people to give it to 
one who does not, and cannot, so well under- 
stand it." Not only is this policy right and in 
happy accord withlhe genuis of our Govern- 
ment, but it is the only policy that can be 
mainc'.ined in its administration. In these 
days of Schools and newspaiiers and widely dif- 
fused intelligence, no President can enforce 
any policy against the wishes of the people. 
Pierce tried it by the reiteal of the Missouri 
Compromise and l()St Congress. Buchanan tried 
it on , the Kansas-Lecompton question, and 
gave his party defeat. Lincoln stu- 
died with ceaseless care to be in ac- 
cord with the people, and he was ever sus- 
tained. [Ai)plause.] Jolnison tried it on recon- 
struction and left the Presidency without a 
party. Tyler and Fillmore made similar ex- 
periments" and achieved notable failures. Pres 
ident (Jrant tried it on the Santo Domingo 
question, but was compelled to yield or be 
broken, and now he is enforcing the i)olicy of 
hate and discord in the South, in obedience to 
supi>osed political necessities, against the ad- 
monition of the popular branch of Congress, 
and the result will be, as it ever has been, over- 
whelming defeat. [Cheers and applause.] 

Whatever nuiy be the views or interests of in- 
dividuals or sections, this one undeniable truth 
is irrevocably interwoven with our very Gov- 
ernment itself: The people are the supreme 
power of the nation, and they will make and 
unmake Congresses and Presidents, and politi- 
cal and financial policies at pleasure. [Pro- 



"The Grant Investment in Bolters." 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. A. K. MCCLURE, 



DELIVERED IN 



READING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1872,* 



* Printed from the Report of "The Press." 



Mr, Mc Clure, being introduced, was received with 
cheers. He said : — 



ill 



This is a healtliy year for bolters, and as bolting is always 
healthy for the body politic, the signs of the times are most 
propitious. A whole national convention, with deleo:ates from 
every State, and many of the ablest statesmen of the nation, 
bolted from the Grant party at Cincinnati. They did not bolt 
from their Republican convictions, but they bolted from the 
personal rule that has so deformed Republicanism that indepen- 
dent and honest men canncjt recognize it as the same party whose 
noble achievements of the past have written the brightest pages 
of our history. [Applause.] 

With them, as of old, came Satan also. Men with dreams of 
ambition, or personal ends to serve, found that they had mis- 
taken the purpose of the body, and they bolted a bolting conven- 
tion. [Laughter.] One who presided and made the lirst 
utterance, informed the delegates that "in every department of 
the Government the slow poison of corruption seems to have 
pervaded the whole civil and political administration of the 
country from head to foot." But the idol of his faith was free 
trade, and, as the convention bolted free trade, he was left 
shivering outside, and he bolted by the mere force of political 
gravitation. [Great laughter.] Having thus bolted, he at once 
became a patriot in the estimation of the administration he had 
just denounced as a running sore of corruption, and his profes- 
sional services just then happened to be needed by the Govern- 
ment. Thus persuaded, professional gravitation landed him in 
tlie arms of Grant. [Laughter.] Before the Cincinnati Conven- 
tion met he stated in a letter to a friend that he would cordially 
support Mr. Greeley if nominated. After the convention he went 
wooling, and was met with plentiful flocks. [Roars of laughter.] 
Judge Stanley Matthews, of Ohio, will recognize this portrait. 

But the great Cincinnati outburst of bolters, like tlie outbreak 
of long-smothered currents, sent petty streams and sprays in all 
manner of odd directions awav from the tidal wave, and each 
one seems to have become ambitious to be a flood of its own. 
[Laughter.] Cameron and Tweed, and Morton and "Brick" 
Bomeroy, and Butler and Mosby, and others of like pronounced 
patriotism [laughter], hastened to water the multitude of infantile 
floods that have jetted ofl:" from Cincinnati, and they were finally 
all turned toward Gotham. Man}' were the prayers and tender 
was the solicitude that came irom Administration circles in be- 
half of the bolting political waters. [Laughter.] But there was 



one o-rave miscalculation made by the Grant leaders. There 
were'some honest bolters from the Cincinnati bolt, and all men 
were not ibr sale. The result \\'a8 that honesty bolted aii^ain 
from the bolting bolters [laughter], jind the remnant again 
bolted from eacirother. [Renewed laughter.] One distinguished 
bolter bolted off and gave out a pUUforni of his own. Mr. 
Godwin started in his "bolt against brave pdds — something over 
six millions to one — and, njUurally enough, he iinally bolted 
from himself. [Roars of laughter.] A small remnant made a 
declai-ation of princi})les and nominated Mr. Groesbeck for 
President; I forget who for Vice-President. A committee waj^ 
appointed to notify the nominees, but the committee bolted 
before they found the candidates, and the candidates bolted over 
to Greeley. [Great applause.] So ended the bolt from the 
Cincinnati bolters. Tlie Grant party came out minus all the 
capital, and trouble it put into the concern, and it needs no 
figures beyond a cipher to state its profits. 

"l3nt the Grant leaders would not be discouraged. Cameron 
and Morton and Butler, in their early religious studies [laughter], 
had read in "Pilgrim's Progress," or in their primers, that in 
some lexicon there is no such word as fail, and they resolved not 
to fail. They had contracted for a bolt; they had paid for a bolt ; 
and a bolt they must have. [Laughter.] If not a Liberal bolt 
thev must have a Democratic bolt, and thereupon Mosby was 
wefcomed to the hospitality of the White House. The warriors 
met and were fraternal. [Laughter.] Mosby differed with his 
brother hero in that he was honest. He went home for Grant 
and told his people that he preferred to deal for immediate 
delivery, and that Grant was his man [Laughter.] Mosby 
bolted, and the first fruits of the weary efforts of the xVdministra- 
tion were gathered in unspeakable joy. The antediluvian Wise 
l)olted with him for the one hundred and nineteenth time in^ his 
life [laughter], and will bolt every fortnight until the eleetion ; 
but It wa^s an emergency that forbade ceremony or inquiry, and 
he was welcomed. [Applause.] 

Then came my old friend Blanton Duncan. Ills contract was 
stupendous. lie had made a mistake in Kentucky and got on 
the wvoug side of the war. He was so defiantly and offensively 
rebel that his fine estate was confiscated under the laws, and he 
had to choose between sui»porting Grant or bankruptcy. Xot 
that he loved Grant more, but that he loved poverty less, decided 
his political status [laughter], and he assumed the contract of 
defeating Mr. Greeley" at Baltimore. He got his estate back 
through Butler's championship in the House, and Grant's 
approval, but neither doods of franked circulars, nor ceaseless 
importunities, uor prayers, nor tears, nor oliices, nor contracts, 



nor altogether [laughter], could turn the Democratic Convention 
from its purpose. [Prolonged cheering.] Brick Pomeroy was 
by his side, and he blasphemed boldly, while Duncan begged 
piteously; but none trembled or followed him. ]^ot a delegate 
from any State could be got to bolt, and Duncan and Pomeroy, 
and a half score more employed with them to divide the conven- 
tion, had to improvise a bolt of their own to make the appear- 
ance of earning their pay. They met and stared at each other, 
and soon bolted over to tlie next day to hire recruits from idlers 
and boys. Again they met, and finding that they would soon all 
bolt from each other, like a grindstone shivered by a lightning- 
stroke, they called the Louisville Convention, and then bolted 
back to the Administration for reinforcements of money and men. 
[Laughter.] The Grant leaders at once gave notice that the weary 
and laden of Bourbon Democracy can now find rest. [Laughter.] 
Tliatbankruf)ts in politics and property can meet with a profitable 
welcome, and that those who are still unrepentant rebels, and 
who protest against the surrender of the issues of the war, can 
find genial fellowship and encouragement in the Administration 
ranks. Murphy bargained with Tweed, Connolly and O'Brien 
for safety to the first and honors for the last, and they bolted to 
Grant. The rebel General Pillow's mules taken in war, were 
bolted into a claim against the Government, and Pillow bolted 
the Baltimore ticket, after which they bolted on his mules. 
[Laughter.] Harris, of Maryland, who was censured by a Re- 
publican Congress for disloj'alty while a member of the Ilouse, 
bolted for Grant because disloyalty was not maintained at Balti- 
more; and Brick Pomeroy and Wendell Phillips bolted together 
for Grant, and for the same reason. Both are lawless and revolu- 
tionary, and neither have supported a successful candidate v/ithin 
my recollection. Pomeroy blasphemed Lincoln and Grant when 
candidates before, and Phillips with equal fervor blasphemed the 
constitution and the laws under which they were elected. Both 
stumped the country, declaring Grant's intellectual and moral 
unfitness for the Presidency, and as usual with such chaotic 
agitators, when the country has reached the same conviction, 
they bolt in passion from themselves. [Laughter.] And Toombs 
bolts and is made welcome ; and Stevens bolts and is invited to 
the Grant feast. They bolt because Greeley was for the emanci- 
pation and enfranchisement of the slaves, and Garrison and 
Douglass bolt to Grant, because Grant is more for the emanci- 
pation and enfranchisement of the blacks than Greeley is. 
[Laughter.] 

And we have bolters in Philadelphia, nearly one-half of one 
for every thousand Democratic votes in the city. [Laughter.] 
They are professionals, and should be encouraged, and as they 



will prol)ably bolt from and to each other forty times between 
this and the election, it would be unjust to them and to the public 
to name them now. [Laughter,] The Administration next 
turned in quest of needy and seedy adventurers to hire for the 
bolt to Louisville. The postmaster at Washington, Mr. J. M. 
Edmunds, who is also Secretary of the Grant Couo-ressional 
CoM\mittee, issued the following circular, and sent it out to 
Grant postmasters, under frank, to be delivered to any one who 
would go to Louisville and accept pay for his services.: 

'^ Washington, D. C., July 30th, 1872. 
Dear Sir:-;— Please send the enclosed circular to active Demo- 
crats in your district who do not support Mr. Greeley and will 
co-operate in the Louisville Convention. Send me a list of such 
men in your county immediately. 

J. M. Edmunds, Secretary." 

By some mistake one of the circulars came to me and I con- 
cluded that, as looking after political conventions this year is my 
business, I would help Grant's postmaster and secretary to dis- 
tribute his documents for the Grant side-show at Louisville. 
[Laughter.] I accordingly sent a gentleman to see Mr. Edmunds, 
and to inquire how the Louisville movement might be promoted. 
As it had no party at all to back it, it was exceeding sickly and 
needed nursing. [Laughter.] Mr. Edmunds was waited upon 
at the Grant Committee headquarters in Washington, and "'he 
smiled so childlike and bland," [laughter], that my friend was 
for a time bothered whether Grant was to be for the Louisville 
ticket, or whether the Louisville ticket was to be for Grant. The 
valiant postmaster had documents by the thous md, teaching the 
I rue Democratic pathway, and he gave them out with a lavish 
hand. 

Here are two of them. [Sensation.] These two documents, 
(the speaker presented two franked envelopes) were received by 
my friend froni Mr. Edmunds in person, at the Grant Committee 
headquarters in Washington, and the pamphlets now in them 
were in them wdien Mr. Edmunds delivered them. You will 
observe (holding up the envelopes), that one is franked by Sena- 
tor Ilarlan, of Iowa, and the other by ^Ir. Foster, of Ohio. I 
will read you the first paragraph of the pamphlet the envelopes 
cover. It is as follows: 

"Dear Sir: — Will you be kind enough to place this circular in 
the hands of active Democrats in your C(junty, who will at once 
commence an organization for the purpose of supporting the 
princi[)les of our party, as they will be proclaimed by the con- 
vention at Louisville, Sept. 3d." 

It is a long circular, and is signed Blanton Duncaji. His cir- 
culars were printed by the Administration, at the Government 



6 

Printing Office, folded b}' Government officers, franked bv clerks 
who forge the names of Senators and members bj contract, and 
circnlated by postmasters. All that conid be done on paper was 
thus done for the Louisville Grant show by Government clerks 
and dependents. Bnt there were other and mightier duties to 
be performed to make the show prosper. It must have money, 
it must have banners, it must have bands, it must have trans- 
portation and it must have bummers hired to swagger and swear 
that the Democracy can't be sold out to Greeley. [Laughter.] 
It required a Grant quartermaster, a commissary officer and a 
paymaster. 

Notwithstanding Genei'al Camei'on's unsophisticated habits 
and tastes touching (piarternuisters, pa\masters and baggage 
masters, [shouts of laughter], lie was selected to run the several 
departments of this State. He called Revenue Officer Errett, 
the chairman of the Carneron-Grant party of this State, and 
gave him general command, with instructions to enlist all strag- 
glers about every camp, and to send them free to Louisville. 
Mr. Errett answered his chief that tickets cost money, and he 
had not the cash just at hand. He reported that he had a dele- 
gation mustered in for ten days, and as long thereafter as pay 
and rations could be kept up, [laughter], but that they must have 
transportation. It was proniptlj' furnished by Cameron. A 
relative of President Grant engaged a band, and all went to 
Louisville merry as a marriage bell. [Laughter.] 

The convention at Louisville opened rather inanspiciously. 
Instead of beginning with prayer, as is usually done, Mr. 
Blanton Duncan opened it with a bar-room brawl, in which he 
])robably would have whipped the other fellow if the otlicr 
fellow liad not very promptly whipped him. [Siiouts of laughtei'.] 
And while the chivalrous Duncan was acceptiuii: a floiiii:;injf in 
Louisville, one of the iiopeful brothers-in-law of the President 
opened the ball at the other end of the line by clubbing an 
editor who was bowed by the frosts of sixty winters. [Renewed 
laughter.] The preliminar}' skirmishes being over, the immortal 
Duncan called his warriors into council and informed them of 
their duty. He told them how much he had not received for not 
selling out to Greeley, and how many millions it would require 
to transfer his Falstaffian army to either side. 

A Virij^inia antediluvian, wlio had been tenderlv rocked in the 
resolutions of '98, pi'esided, and the pi'ogramme was proceeded 
with according to contract, as rapidly as could be done, with 
some appearance of deliberation. Now and then a delegate who 
had been captured and enrolled without bounty [laugher] would 
attemi)t to i^peak his own thoughts, but he was out ot order. 
Train fiashed upon the gathering like a fall moon upon a pile of 



stale mnekerel [laughter], and not being commercial in politics, 
lie was driven from the body. 

Finally, the ticket contracted and paid for by Cameron, Tweed, 
Morton & Co., was nominated and it would not stand. O'Connor 
had convictions of his own, but he was not for sale, and Adams 
would die only in the arms of O'Connor. [Laughter.] As there 
were no residuary legatees contracted for in the shape of candi- 
dates, the contractors were brought to a stand. It was O'Connor 
and cash, or nobody and nothing, [laughter], and the convention 
broke into disorder at the prospect of loosing their wages. 

In a lucid interval the venerable antediluvian from Virginia, 
who was in the chair, was unanimously declared nominated lor 
President; but there was nothing, in it [laughter], and it was 
called a joke. It was natural that so serious a calm as followed 
the declination of the candidates contracted for should be suc- 
ceeded by comedy. If '-ash was to be denied them, they would have 
their fun, and they joked Lyons on the ticket. But men cannot 
always joke. Joke's won't pay grocery bills or clothe the baby 
[laughter], and soberness returned to the remnant of the con- 
tracfors. Many left in disgust to save hotel bills, and gave their 
proxies to Duncan; but the convention, Unding that the contract 
was about to fail, avenged themselves on their chief contractor 
by denying him the right to cast votes for those who had con- 
cluded they were missed at home. 

Finally, in utter desperation, the contractors again nominated 
the only two men they knew would not accept, and in haste 
rushed for their homes and the paymasters. [Laughter.]^ A 
convention of employed adventurers without a constituency, fitly 
closed without candidates, and now it has dissolved among the 
people, and is like a twice-told tale. It has made all previous 
bread and butter conventions and brigades measurably respectable, 
and has given the country the lowest depth of political chicanery 
that has ever been sounded. [Applause.] 

The country will well note the fact that from but one source 
does encouragement come to the restless, faithless men w^ho re- 
fuse obedience to the now irrevocably settled issues of the war. 
When all parties and all sections have yielded a sincere obedience 
to the logical results of our late conflict, the Grant administration 
has the oidy proffer of welcome and encouragement for unre- 
pentant rebels. Toombs, Stevens, Wise, Harris and their few 
associates, who continue the war against fate, are flaunted before 
the public through Grant journals, with editorial plaudits, and 
they are cheered in their professed devotion to the "Lost Cause" 
only by the Grant party, and none have been deceived by the en- 
listment of Tweed, Pomeroy, Connolly and O'Brien in the grand 
Louisville movement. 



8 

It was as much the movement of Cameron, Morton, Conkling, 
Chandler and Butler as was the Philadelphia Convention, and 
Grant managers undisguisedly drammed up its pretended dele- 
gates and paid the bills. It is a fitting crown to the bold monu- 
ment of Administration debauchery, that the few blatant traitors 
of the South and the discarded Tammany municipal harlots 
of the North should rush to the Grant ranks to find genial and 
abundant championship in death. [Cheers and applause.] 

Mr. McClure then referred to the prospects in the State. He 
said that from every part of the State the reports were most 
cheering. In Philadelphia we will make fraud hide in terror 
before election day, and the boasted majority of 12.000 to 15.000 
will vanish. [Cheers ] So far, in every State that has voted, 
the Grant loss compared wi'th previous equally full votes, has 
been most significant of disaster to them. They jollify over 
North Carolina because thej' have manufactured a nominal 
majority by fraud, where four years ago they had 18.000. They 
boast of West Virginia because a Greeley man was defeated for 
Governor; but they forget to tell that a Greeley man was elected. 
[Laughter and cheers.] They claim a victory where they did 
not venture to run a Grant candidate, although four years ago 
they elected their Governor by 4.700. They shout themselves 
hoarse over Vermont, where they have lost 5.000 on an}^ previous 
vote with so large a poll. They are wild with joy over Maine, 
where they have lost twenty-five per cent, of the Grant majority, 
and where the percentage of Republican loss, if applied to Penn- 
sylvania, would beat them 50.000. [Applause.] 

Would you jollify over Berks, if after a most exhausting con- 
test and the fullest possible vote, she should give but 4.500 
majority instead of 6.500? Would you call it a victory or a 
defeat? The}' are most welcome to such victories in Pennsyl- 
vania; and they will get just such victories too. [Laughter.] 
They will loose a larger per cent, of the Republican vote here 
than they lost in Maine, and with our 700.000 votes against their 
130.000, the Greeley majority will run up in the tens of thousands. 
[Applause.] Be of good cheer friends. The battle will be des- 
perate, as power and venality always battle for existence, but the 
people will sweep the cormorants of our State from power in 
October by an overwhelming vote, and Novenjber will sweep 
itself. [Applause.] 



'OAMBRON RULE IN PENNgYLYANIA." 



SPEECH 



OF 











Q) 



Hi ©1111 



^ 



DELIVERED IP* 



Fulton Hall, Lancaster, 

SEPTEMBER 18, 1812. ' 



* Printed from the Report of "The Press." 



Mr. McClure was received by the immense audience with 
great applause. He described the novel aspect of political 
parties in the pending contest, and claimed that the rending of 
party bonds is a most wholesome promise to the country. Men 
whose antagonism on the dead issues of the past had not changed, 
had advanced to meet the new and living issues of the present, 
and they did not stop to inquire whether they had been Repub- 
licans or Democrats in other days and other conflicts. Parties 
are organized for the welfare of the country, and the country 
cannot be made to subserve the mere interests of a political organi- 
zation. When such an issue is presented, then it becomes the 
duty of patriots to forget partisan obligations and subordinate 
party to the general welfare. Such an issue, the speaker insisted, 
was presented now. The countrj^ is arrested in its advancement 
to peace and prosperity, by a party that has abused its trusts, and 
now prostitutes the whole power of the Government to the gro- 
veling task of promoting its own success. In 1868 its battle-cry 
was "Let us have peace!" and after four years of peace and 
obedience to the laws throughout the whole country, the slogan 
of the same party is "Let us have hate." Against this appeal 
for enstrangement and disorder every patriot must protest. Not 
only must they protest against such a battle-cry, but they must 
also reprobate the insincerity that revives the passions of war, 
after conferring upon such men as Longstreet and Akerman the 
highest honors of the Adminstration. 

After elaborately reviewing the positions of parties, and the 
duties of citizens in the national contest, the speaker calmly but 
most incisively presented the issues involved in the State contest. 
He said: I appreciate fully the circumstances under which I 
speak, against what power I speak, and to whom 1 speak; I 
address those who are profoundly exercised by the peculiar domi- 
nation that is now upon trial before the people. With citizens 
as citizens, I have nothing to do. Their private and their social 
relations the criticism of political contests should regard as sacred. 
Whatever others may do, the cause of truth and public integrity 
cannot be perverted to personal controversy, and no provocation of 
folly, or of malice, or of crime, should tempt the defender of 
principles which are essential to the honor and purity of the 
public service to accept the challenge of defamation. 

Look at our great State! It is the pride, the honor and the 
patrimony of nearly four millions of people; and it is to be the 
inheritance of millions yet unborn. Its valleys are golden with 
abundance, under the inspiration of an intelligent and happy in- 
dustry ; its hillsides and mountains are pouring out countless 

2 



wealth t<> be difYased throao;h tlie thousand sinews of requited 
labor, and to be gathered in the channels of a pro-^perous com- 
merce. Its schools are dotted in every commnniry, and are a 
free oiie ring to the opulent and to the lowly; and colieges and 
churches on every liand tell the story of our Christian progress. 
The scream of the iron-horse is heard climbing our Alleghanies, 
and piercing our mines of boundless riches. Monuments stand 
thick in eveVy section to rei-ord the heroism of our people, and 
the orphans of our martyred soldiers are the chosen children of 
the commonwealth. [x\pi»lause.] 

There is Pennsylvania, behold her! Unrivaled in intelligence, 
in educated and skilled labor, in diversified wealth, in integrity 
of character, and in all that contributes to the true grandeur of 
a people under faithful government, and yet there are stains upoii 
her escutcheon and festering sores upon her body politic, and 
blisters upon her crown, which poison and paralyze her authority 
and shame her citizens. To rule sucli a commonwealth, and 
such a people, is an inviting field for noble and pure ambition, 
and he or they who can accept its honors worthily, and wisely 
direct its government, must deserve the plaudits of all com- 
munities. "But he or tliey who usurp its powers, pluck its laurels 
in dishonor, and pour the deadly poison of peculation or selfish 
aggrandizement into its channels of authority, must in time be 
rejected with scorn, and be remembered only in infamy. 
[Applause.] 

I am not here to accuse, but to look our State and its govern- 
ment in the face. For six years it h;is been held in every 
channel of power, by a domination that is confessed by all. It 
has been masterly in its organization, skillful in conception a,nd 
execution to preserve control, and it has successfully detied 
assault on every side. It has directly or indirectly made and ex- 
ecuted every political and domestic policy that has become part 
of our history. It has conferred the favors, the honors of the 
State. It has made nominations and majorities to sustain them. 
It has directed our legislation, and exercised the whole adminis- 
trative power of the'commonwealth. Whatever of good, or of 
evil, brightens or stains the political management of our State 
during the period I have named, is to be credited to the rule of 
Simon Cameron. We could not but be prosperous as a people, 
for our treasury has overflowed with revenues. The husbandman 
has gathered bountiful harvests, and the products of our mines 
and of our shops and mills have found active markets with re- 
munerative prices. No evil days came upon us, such as shadowed 
the administration of Governor Curtin. [Cheers and applause.] 
There was no strain upon our credit, no revulsion or depression 
of trade, no convulsing fears to cripple our industry, no bereave- 



ment or disorder to stay the march of progress. It was a time 
for beneficent rule; when green hiurels had but to be plucked 
by honest power, and when public virtue had but to be true to 
itself to reap the mor^t bountiful reward. How has our great 
commonwealth been ruled? If wiselj' and patriotically and in 
integrity, this rule should continue. If unwisely, selfishly and 
dishonestly, it should be fearlessly dethrowned, [Cheers.] 

Have the highest honors within gift of the State been con- 
ferred upon tlie most competent and deserving, or have they 
been bartered to the place-hunter and the demagogue? Have 
they been awarded honestl3% in obedience to the popular will, or 
have they been the toy of the venal and grasped in selfish arro- 
gance? Has this rule been exercised to reflect honor and 
blessings upon the State, or has it been prostituted to debauch 
our politics and perpetuate corrupt authority? Have those who 
won and enjoyed our highest honors been the respected and 
trusted representatives of the people, or have they shunned 
manly criticism and crawled thi'ough the slimy and sinuous 
channels of chicanery and fraud to pluck forbidden fruits and 
shame the commonwealth ? Have they wielded the various ele- 
ments of power, which of necessity attend such a responsible 
trust, to enforce integrity and competency in our official places, 
or have they perverted tiie public service to blind obedience to 
the behests of unscrupulous perfidy? Have they appealed to the 
patriotism, to the manhood, and the inspii-ation of honest am- 
bition for associates or helpmates, or have they invited only the 
selfish, the cowardly and the dependent to sti'engthen their 
cause? These are sober inquiries which our servants who are 
robed in the noblest shifts of the State, must answer. [Applause.] 

And has this rule been faithful or f;iithless in executing its or- 
ganized political power? It has been supreme. It has condi- 
tioned every ofiice; it has its terms with every channel of 
authority. Whatever we have reaped or are reaping in our 
political system, has been or is the ]ei!:itimate harvest of the seed 
it has sown. Has it administered jmblic justice without fear or 
favor, or has it bargained with banded crime, polluted the jur\- 
box, and opened the doors of our prisons? Has it administered 
our finances in obedience to the laws, and without stain upon 
our public servants, or has it plunged them into illegal or reck- 
less peculation and mingled them with the ciirainal records of 
our courts? Has it enforced integrity in the enactment of our 
laws, or has it made law-making a mere auction of legislative 
favors? Has it adjusted our public accounts in the interest, of the 
State, or has \f. licensed the defaulter to plunder the tax-payers? 
Has it respected and encouraged an independent press as faithful 
sentinels on the outposts of power, or has invoked avenging or 
corrupt authority to suppress honest criticism of its acts? 



I need not answer those 2:rave qnestions before an int'']]i,ii:ont 
audience. They luive been asked and answered in the mind of 
every citizen who would be faithful to the State that has uiven 
him "government and prosperity. They have been propounded 
and discussed by every independent journal. They have been 
repeated and answered yearly in the records of our legislature. 
They have been answered in the mockery of justice in portions 
of the commonwealth. They have been answered in the notorious 
pollution of the ballot-box. They have been answered in the 
ineffaceable records of the nation at AVashington. They have 
been asked and answered everywhere, unless there are sonie 
dark recesses in the State where virtue and dishonor are not dis- 
tinguished by the people. [Applause.] 

in time of war when all were absorbed in the preservation of 
our institutions, the people natually tolerated abuse of Republi- 
canism. It had a noble cause; its banner was the banner of 
patriotism, and its achievements enlisted the devotion of the 
nation. It was then that this rule laid the foundation of its 
power. Had its purposes been declared or appreciated, it would 
have been rejected by the aroused majesty of the people. But 
it came professing sympathy with, and obedience to the people, 
and entrenched itself in the very citadel of Republican authority 
before its deformities were revealed to the public. Since then 
it has withdrawn its flag in every contest and it has urged that 
Re[)nblicanism and not Cameronism, was appealing for poj.ular 
approval. Nominations have been made in the secretcaucus to 
obey this power, and when so made they were readily forced 
upon the party through dependent presses and obedient subor- 
dinates, and w^ere then presented to the people with the formal 
sanction of an honored political organization. When men have 
[)r()te8ted, it was answered that the party must not be endangered, 
and that the issue-^vith personal rule should be met when fairly 
[•resented by a Senatorial election. 

The issue is now fairly before the people of Pennsylvania.^ 
An organized and corrupt despotism that has shorn our State of 
her locks while her people slept, and bound her hand and foot, 
is now upon trial and the issue cannot be evaded. It is idle to 
plead that a Presidential election may be effected by it. If any 
national cause forbids the regeneration of our commonwealth, it 
sliould not be successful— it cannot deserve success. _Nor_ can 
any intelligent voter be deceived by the significant disclaimer 
that the organized rule of our State has made as to the Slate 
ticket. It is a well-guarded confession of the integrity of the 
people for the lieutenants of this rule to plead that the State 
ticket was not in sympathy with it, and not made by it, lait it will 
not mislead the earnest men who mean now to grapple sternly 



6 

with this debauched and debauching power. The Executive ot 
this State is essential to the perpetuation of this rule. So is the 
State Treasurer and so is the Auditor General. Without them 
it would be powerless to enforce its desperate purposes. It must 
have the clemency, the approval, the veto of the Governor to 
make men bow to its mandates. It must have the millions of 
the treaniry to furnish means to pay the price of its success. 
It must have the revision of the public accounts to make the 
vast corporate power of the State yield willing obedience to its 
demands, and to reward its dependants. It has therefore made 
the ticket and is now planning frauds to elect it; and if such a 
calamity as its election could be possible, when elected, the claim 
will be at once boldly made, and certainly with reason, that 
the present political domination of the commonwealth has been 
approved by the people. If this organized power shall triumph 
in October by the election of Hartrantt, for the first time in the 
history of this State Simon Cameron may claim that he is en- 
titled to be one of our Senators. 

Citizens of the Old Guard, if you approve of this rule, and 
desire its complete control for three years more in your State, and 
for six years more in the first legislative tribunal of the nation, 
you should vote its State ticket and its legislative candidates. 
If you do not approve it — if you desire to regenerate your 
comm.onwealth, to honor in her national representation, and to 
fidelity in your government at Harrisburg — you must buckle on 
your armors f(U' the conflict. Deception will confront you at 
every step;i but be not betrayed. Six years ago, when your Re- 
publicans met in council to select Senators and Assemblymen, 
one of your most upright and fearless men, Mr. Billingfelt, 
[cheers and applause], answered "I am for Thaddeus Stevens for 
Senator — for Simon Cameron, never I "[protracted clieers], and 
he was nominated with boundless enthusiasm, and was elected 
and re-elected by large majorities. Let no candidate be less 
specific now, for he who hesitates to be right will be the easy 
prey of wrong. Let your people be true to their own integrity 
in the election of State and legislative candidates, and Pennsyl- 
vania will at last be redeemed from the power of rings and 
plunderers. With Charles R. Buckalew [cheers] as Governor, 
our revenues will be safe from the reach of the speculator; our 
Legislature will be compelled to fidelity in its enactments, and 
pardons will cease to be political perquisites. With an able 
and upright Senator to represent us at Washington, our great 
State will be released from tlie bondage of the political traders, 
who are rewarded with ofiicial favors for defrauding the people. 
With Governor Curtin [cheers] in our Constitutional Convention 
we may confidently look for a just and enlightened revision ot 



our fundamental law. His nomination by the Liberal Committee 
was made with his approval [applause], and will l)e formally ac- 
cepted as soon as he recovers from his recent most critical illness. 
The candidates before you are truly representative on both sides. 
Curtin or Cameron, Buckalew or Hartranft — choose between 
them. [Protracted applause,] 



On the Tth of September, Mr. McClure discussed th.e same 
issues in Norristown, concluding as follows:. 

Citizens of iSTorristoavn — I speak to the neisrlibors and 
to many who are friends of General Hartranft. Of him I have 
not aught to say tliat is personally disresiectful. I have known 
him long and well, and have never spoken unkindly of him. 
That he has made grave mistakes in his public life, the records 
incontestibly establish, and those mistakes are not the fountain, 
but the result of the organized corrupt political power in our 
State, against which the people are in revolt. It is not necess- 
ary that I should accuse him of individual official wrong. I 
would prefer not to do so, however much it might be demanded; 
but I am here to assail the political combinaticm that has long 
controled our commonwealth, in tlie name of Republicanism, 
and stained almost every department of authority with dishonor. 
It has controled our finances in the interest of speculation, and 
degraded the good name of our State. It has made our legisla- 
tio^n a by-word and a reproach, and subordinated its enactments 
to the direction of the lobyist. It has made public justice a 
mockery, by using the pardon of criminals as an article of com- 
merce — not by the Executive, but ])y those who wield the su- 
preme power of the party. It has made our offices of public 
lionor and trust in the gift of the Legislature, the property of 
the utiscrupulous and the venal, and our highest places present 
us with startling monuments of shame. It has made peculation of 
the pul)lic Innds a legalized science, for the law seems powerless 
to bring the defaulter to account. It has brought to unqualified 
obedience all who dream of political advancement, and assailed 
with all the arrogance of unworthy power and stolen treasure all 
who value political or individual manhood. It has made sale of 
the places of profit to be dispensed by the Republican organiza- 
tion, solely to defy the people and preserve a most dishonest and 
despotic personal rule. It has has made the city of Philadelphia 
the prey of the repeater and ballot-box stufi'er, and made Irand 
and de])auchery tlie only pathway to ofiicial position. To-day 
in Philadelphia*^ the issue is clearly defined as one between crime 



8 

and public order. It lias made the nominations of the Republican 
party without respect to the popular will, and entirely with the 
view of yielding power to perpetuate wrong. 

It is this power, and the ticket this power has created, that I 
am called upon to support as a Republican, and of this power 
General Hartranft is the representative. Whether he is of it or 
its mere creation it matters not. He bears its banners, pleads its 
cause, and will give it victor}^ if he can be elected. If chosen to 
tlie high office he seeks, he cannot be an ing ate, and he must 
be ungrateful, or yield his power for dishonest men and dish(mest 
ends. The boast now unblushingly made of 12.000 or 15.000 
majorit}^ in Philadelphia is simply the arrogant boast of crime, 
and General Hartranft cannot be ignorant of it. If it be made to 
inspire a bi'oken and demoralized party it isafalsf^houd. If it be 
made with the hope of fultilling it, it is but the insolent, detiant 
proclamation of organized fraud, in advance of its systematic 
pollution of the ballot. 

I need not point to the fountain of this dangerous and despotic 
power. It is Simon Cameron. He is its author, its manager, its 
executioner. He makes its candidates and usurp the power of 
their offices. He makes its Legislature, and barters its honors 
and its protits. He makes no appeal to the people. From them 
his plans and purposes are uniformly concealed. Were he to 
come before them to-day and say, "Here is my cause, decide as 
intelligence and integrity shall dictate," he would be buried in 
relentless reprobation. He furls his banner and calls Republicans 
to rally to save a President or a Governor, and hopes to escape 
the scrutiny of a longsuifering people. 

If his State ticket shall be chosen, he will have won the lirst 
verdict of popular approval he has ever received. However dis- 
honestl}' it may be won, it would be his victroy, and for the lirst 
time in a long life checkered by purchased honors, he would 
plausibly claim the leadership he has persistently usurped. The 
success of this combiuiition in the State contest would consign 
our State and Philadelphia to the same domination, strengthened 
and intensilied for three more years, and all effin-ts at reform 
would be fruitless. This issue appeals, and searchingly appeals, 
to the integrity of every Republican, and that integrity will give 
us victory. 



STATE REFORM. 



GOV. CURTIN ON RINS RULE IN PENNA. 



The Prostitution of Executive Pardons 
to Corrupt Political Power. 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION— GOVERNOR 
CURTIN NOMINATED BY THE LIBERALS. 

To the People of Pennsylvania : 

The Liberal Republican State Committee have formally nominated Hon. 
Andrew G. Ciu-tin as a candidate for Delegate at Large to the Constitutional Con- 
vention. In doing so we need not present any elaborate commendation of the 
choice we have made. Had the preferences of the people prevailed with the polit- 
ical managers, who have long ruled the State for the attainment of selfish ends, 
his name would have been first on the list of nominations for the responsible posi- 
tion. He would have been presented, not aa a partisan, but as a patriot who has 
• shed the brightest lustre upon the annals of our Commonwealth. 

A generation has passed away since our fundamental law has been revised by the 
sovereign power that created, and our progress has been marked in all that con- 
tributes to prosperity and greatness. The rapid growth and advancement of our 
industry, its varied and multiplied channels of production, and the vast business 
interests reared upon the wealth it has developed, have made us outgrow the Con- 
stitution of our fathers. 

But to revise it in the interest of public integrity and permanent prosperity, the 
most experienced and faithful of our statesmen should be charged with the task. 
Among these, Andrew G. Curtin stands confessedly eminent, and he would bring 
to the important work a measure of devotion to the people of the Commonwealth 
that few could equal, and none surpass. 

During six years of sorest trial to the State and Nation he filled our Executive 
chair. He was met with responsibilities which severely tested his intelligence and 
his patriotism ; but he met every public want, discharged every public duty, and 
retired with the formal approval of all parties for his enlightened and successful 
administration, and beloved as the " soldiers' friend." 

No man in our great State is more familiar with our people; with our diversi- 
fied and growing interests ; with the new necessities created by a life-time of pro- 

1 



gress; and none can bring to the amendment of our Constitution more practical 
wisdom or greater fidelity. 

Assured that the people of the State, without regard to political differences, 
desire his services, we present his name as a candidate, and ask for him the earnest 
support of all who believe him most competent and deserving, with abiding confi- 
dence that he will be triumphantly chosen. 



A. K. McClure, Chairman, Philadelphia. 

Wm. H. Euddiman. Philadelphia. 

Lambert Thomas, Philadelphia. 

Henry L. AVallace, Philadelphia. 

George Wylie, Philadelphia. 

James King, Alleghany. 

Thomas M. Marshall, Alleghany. 

G. Stengle, Alleghany. 

J. Button Steele, Montgomery. 

George Stout, Northampton. 

E. H. Ranch, Lancaster. 

Daniel Kalbfus, Carbon. 

Geo Irvin, Dauphin, 

Gordon F. Mason, Bradford. 

Thos. L. Jordan, Lycoming. 

Isaac Benson, Potter. 

S. B. Row. Clearfield. 

Jacob R. Busser, York. 

Wm. Lewis, Huntingdon. 

Jas. S. Moorhead, Westmoreland. 

Henry Pillow, Butler. 

AVm. Stewart, Mercer. 

Joshua Douglas, Crawford. 



F. A. Shugert, Warren. 



Wm. J. Gillingham, Philadelphia. 

Henry L. Cake, Philadelphia. 

H. Tiedeman, Philadelphia. 

E. T. Chase, Philadelphia. 

J. K. Moorehead, Alleghany. 

G. W. Riddle, Alleghany. 

^'. Raihor, Alleghany. 

Frank Taylor, Alleghany. 

M. C. Boyer, Montgomery. 

J. George Seltzer, Berks. 

N. Ellmaker, Lancaster. 

E. J. More, Lehigh. 

Geo. Coray, Luzerne. 

J. C. Delezenne, Wayne. 

J. B. Earl, Cameron. 

Chas. Hower, Snyder. 

Geo. W, Zeigler, Franklin. 

D. S. Dunham, Blair. 

John S. Graybill, Juniata. 

R. W. Downy, Greene. 

David Barclay, Armstrong. 

L. D. Davis, Venango. 

M. B. Lowry, Erie. 



Philadelphia, Sept. 12, 1872. 



aOVERNOR CURTIN'S LETTER TO HON. A. K.' 
McGLURE, CHAIRMAN LIBERAL REPUBLICAN 
STATE COMMITTEE AC CEP TIN a THE NOMI- 
NATION. 

Saratoga, September 21. 

My Dear Sir : Your favor of the 11th instant, informing me of my nomination 
by the Liberal Republican State Committee as candidate for delegate at large to 
the Constitutional Convention, and enclosing an address to the people of the State 
recommending my election, came duly to hand, but extreme illness prevented my 
reading the letter or considering the subject until now. 

I am still quite feeble and unable to write without the aid of an amanuensis, 
but the near approach of the. election, and the gravity of the issues immediately 
affecting the honor and prosperity of Pennsylvania, to be decided in October, 
compel me to answer when my rest should be unbroken. 

A nomination made by so many of the purest and best old representative 
Republicans of the State, and presented to the people upon grounds which stand 
out in brave contrast with the demoralized political management now so sadly 



8 

prevalent, is an appeal I cannot refuse to vespect. I therefore accept the nomi- 
nation, and if it shall be ratified by the people, and my health permits, I will 
discharge its duties with fidelity. I had confidently expected, immediately upon 
my return home, to familiarize myself fully with the details of what I well 
understood in all general aspects, touching the misrule in our Commonwealth under 
its present political control, and to speak my convictions at the earliest possible 
moment. While I cannot ever be indiff'erent in a Presidential contest, I felt that 
the regeneration of my native State, in the October election, was of paramount 
interest to the people in whose happiness and greatness I am enlisted by every 
consideration of gratitude and patriotism. 

The bad rule that has wholly compassed the channels of political administra- 
tive authority in Pennsylvania, is not of recent creation. It was the tireless but 
impotent power that conferred the action of the Grovernmeut, State and Nation, 
during the dark days of civil war, and steadily struggled to gather advancement 
and gain from the bitter sorrows of the people. 

Six years ago it attained control in our State. How it wag achieved is remem- 
bered with humiliation by all. Why it was sought and won our subsequent his- 
tory painfully demonstrates. 

The Republican organization has made its name illustrious in maintaining the 
unity of the States and redeeming a continent to freedom. It was seized in con- 
tempt of the will of the people, and its victories perverted to licensed wrong. I 
need not recite how, under an honored name and Hag, it has created wide-spread 
— indeed almost universal — distrust of authority, and made honest men despair 
of integrity in legislation, in elections, in conferring legislative honors, and even 
in the administration of public justice. 

These terrible and steadily-growing evils in our political rule have made the 
people demand the right to resume their sovereignty ; to make new safeguards 
for themselves ; but if the proposed Convention is to effect reform, it must be 
aided, not hindered, by the vast power of the Executive and other important 
Slate officials. 

If Mr. Buckalew shall be defeated, and a new lease of authority thus conferred 
upon the despotic control that has long misruled the Commonwealth, it will be 
marvelous indeed if the Convention chosen in the partisan strife of a National 
contest can afford any substantial relief or protection to the people. If Penn- 
sylvania is to be restored to purity, the government in all its departments, as 
well as the Convention, must harmonize fully and earnestly in the work of 
regeneration. Mr. Buckalew's confessed integrity, and consistent devotion to 
reform during mauy years of official service, give the best possible guarantees of 
honest administration, and complete restraint upon corrupt or reckless authority, 
and his election seems demanded by every consideration of individual manhood,, 
and fidelity to the honor and advancement of the State. If, as is claimed by 
desperate leaders in Pennsylvania, to regenerate our State in October will affect 
the National contest, a cause thus to be endangered must be wanting in the most 
essential attributes of popular confidence. Actuated solely by a sense of duty to 
a people whose devotion in time past furnishes the most grateful memories of my 
life, I shall vote in October for honest government in our Commonwealth, and 
meet the Presidential issue when it comes before the people in accordance with 
my long settled convictions. 

I cannot aflFord to sacrifice a great contest for constitutional, legislative and 



admlBlstrative reform because & Presidential eleetion is pending. To yield the 
question would give fresh victories for misrule, and make the effort for just fun- 
damental restraints, either measurably or wholly abortive. 

Very respecffuily, your obedient servant, 

A. G. CUKTIN. 



THE RINaSTERS CAREER— COLONEL McCLURE 
PRESENTS TEE PICTURE TO THE PEOPLE. 

A very large mass meeting of the citizens of the Third Congressional district in 
favor of Reform was held on Monday evening, the 30th ult., at the American 
Mechanics' Hall, Fourth and George streets. The leading speech of the meeting 
was that delivered by Colonel A. K. McClure, extracts from which are given 
below. 

The speaker commenced by referring to the unexampled bitterness and malig- 
nity developed in this contest, and especially in the strugn;le for our State officers. 
Every man who does not blindly follow the lead of the Cameron Ring rule is de- 
nounced unsparingly as traitorous, corrupt, and, in many cases, as guilty of almost 
every crime in the decalogue. It is unexampled also, he said, in the desperation 
of the leaders of the dominant political power of the State. Fraud is not only 
organized in our own city to change defeat into victory, but it is done openly, 
unblushingly, and in the very face of every intelligent citizen of Philadelphia. He 
then referred to the Evans and Yerkes cases. He said : I have not hitherto, in this 
contest, discussed the alleged complicity of the Republican candidate for Governor 
with the Evans fraud and the Yerkes speculations. I have never, in any speech, 
public or private, charged General Hartranft with individual venality, and I will 
not do so now. I need not decide whether he is so or not. It has been enough to 
settle my convictions in the Gubernatorial contest, that he was dependent upon 
an organized corrupt political power for his nomination ; that, if returned as 
elected, it must be by the systematic organization of fraud in this city, and that if 
qualified as Governor, he must be subservient to the control that conferred his 
authority upon him. When a candidate is helplessly dependent upon corrupt 
direction, it need not be inquired whether he is full-fledged in the practices of the 
power that created him or not. I have preferred to deal with issues, and not with 
the personal character of candidates for the Gubernatorial and Presidential 
offices. 

But recent developments in the desperation of the so-called Republican leaders 
of our city and State demand notice. Within the last year, Mr. Yerkes, a repu- 
table broker, and Mr. Marcer, the Treasurer of the city, were convicted of em- 
bezzlement and sentenced to a felon's cell. I have never met either of them, 
never had any communication, directly or indirectly with them, and had no know- 
ledge of the operations which led to their punishment until the offence became 
public. I was one of the first to sign a petition for their pardon, and on every 
proper occasion have urged that they should be released. I do not assume to say 
that they were convicted without warrant of law, as has been proclaimed from 
the stump : but I did believe, and still believe, that neither of them was guilty of 
the intent to defrauid any one. True, they made an illegal use of public money, 
and the public money was lost thereby, but it was the farthest from their purposes 
to steal the public revenues, and the moral turpitude that should attach to two- 
thirds of the leading officials of Philadelphia did not attach to them. 



They speculated and lost. Most of out city officials deliberately plunder the 
people and grow rich by studied extortion and theft. Being, in my judgment, the 
least guilty of those who have perverted our whole political system to peculate 
and plunder, and lacking the intent to defraud, I favored their release. I did so, 
however, without supposing that conditions atfecting the safety of other and 
greater criminals should be imposed; and when the efforts for the release of 
Yerkes and Marcer became a matter of negotiation to shield a circle of men who 
have deliberately wronged the public, and are justly obnoxious to the gravest 
punishment, I ceased to be interested in (he pardons. 

Then to the marvelous history of incompetency or venality, or both, in our 
highest official places in Pennsylvania, developed during the last year. A man 
whom I have never seen or communicated with, and of whose existence I did not 
know until his defalcation became public, was charged with the collection of hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars, practically without security or restraint. The 
enactment of the authority, the hurried appointment of Mr. Evans, and the speedy 
delivery of claims into his hands, were not accidents, and no department of our 
State, relating to our accounts, can plead excuse without confession of uniiiness 
for responsible trust. That General Hartranft borrowed money from Mr. Evans 
does not, of itself, warrant a charge of collusion or fraud, and there is nothing in 
his connection with the transaction that may not be explained consistently with 
his innocence of the charge of venality. But when that is admitted, his incompe- 
tency becomes painfully conspicuous and undeniable. 

The fact stands out in bold relief, and challenges the scrutiny of every taxpayer 
that more than a quarter of a million of money has been lost to the Treasury of 
the Slate. The money collected by Mr. Evans, and withheld from the Treasury, 
including principal and interest, now amounts to nearly $350,000, and no one 
would question that $50,000 would be a most liberal compensation for his services. 
Or, accepting the most liberal theory proposed, and allowing largely for contin- 
gencies of effort, without success and compensation, to award $100,000, would be 
a commission even beyond the bounds of generosity. By systematic fraud, in 
which Mr. Evans could not have been alone, a record is made up to embrace a set- 
tlement of nearly a million and a-half of dollars, that had been settled by Gov- 
ernor Curtin and Treasurer Henry D. Moore years before. If the records of this 
settlement were made at the time, as they now appear to have been made, our 
State authorities cannot have remained in ignorance of the transaction. If the 
records have been manipulated since the defalcation became public, our account- 
ing officers and Executive should have purged themselves by saying so. And if 
they knew that some $300,000 had been collected during a period of three years 
without accounting for any part of it, they must have had good reasons for quietly 
assenting to the retention of the State money by an irresponsible agent. If they 
did not know that the money had been collected and not returned, they were 
criminally negligent or incompetent, for it was their plainly demanded duty to 
require the ngent to make report twice a year. 

This is the prelude to the tragedy that ended at Cherry Hill a few evenings ago, 
and is essential to an understanding of the plot of the play. In the meantime our 
State authorities were devising ways and means to shield themselves from the 
Evans' defalcation. The effort was not to recover the money, for every movement 
in that line was forbidden by some power that had to be obeyed, and in whatever 
direction the pursuit turned it had to be abandoned. It was soon evident that Mr. 
Evans had not been the sole recipient of the money literally stolen from the tax- 
payers, and it was as clearly evident that no one of our State officers charged 
with its responsibility relative to the transaction could afford to enforce an exhibit 
of the division made. At this critical period of the Evans' scand.al, Yerkes 
and Marcer were convictad and sentenced to pri^n, and they were soon seized 
upon as the plank that might bear the plunderers to shore. The Evans' case had 
to be settled. He could not pay — so much was confessed— for he had not where- 
with to pay. He dare not speak, for that would have been destruction in official 
and other quarters, and to refund would have been inconvenient besides. Yerkes 
was clearly guilty according to the old-time code that made detection guilt, and 
he was helpless. 

This brings me to consider Mr. Yerkes. He has invited criticism by a post 



6 

pardon statement he has made on the eve of an election, designed to acquit Gene, 
ral Hartranft of certain accusations, once made by Mr. Yerkes himself, and sus- 
tained by genuine letters from General Hartranft and by copies of accounts from 
the books of Yerkes and Co. I presume nothing in this inquiry upon the fact that 
Mr. Yerkes has been a convict, as did General Hartranft and his friends some 
weeks ago when they thus explained the letters and affidavits without denying 
their genuineness. I have said that he went to prison without the moral turpitude 
of actual fraud or studied wrong to others attaching to himself, and his conviction 
has not lessened his credibility as a citizen. What wrong he has done to himself 
since then may be extenuated by the natural love of liberty and the desperate 
power that held the bolts of his prison doors, but so far as it affects the public he 
cannot be excused. It required a Tombs' "shyster" to work up the case and per- 
fect its ramifications, and one was at hand in the shape of a Federal oflfice-holder. 
He became procurer to deliver the helpless, imprisoned broker to the loathsome 
embraces of the Ring. He had experimental convictions as to the total depravity 
of mankind, and his work did not, therefore, conflict with any of the natural in- 
stincts of an honest man. A few days ago, in a public speech, after he had con- 
ferred with Yerkes and had in his possession one or more letters from Yerkes, he 
confessed the accounts to be genuine, but insulted the intelligence of his audience 
by an assumed authoritative statement that Yerkes speculated for the State offi- 
cers without their knowledge, paid them profits when investments were profitable, 
and pocketed the loss and said nothing about it when they were unprofitable. Of 
course nobody believed him, but it was the best explanation that could then be 
given. At the same time a most carefully guarded sentence was read from a let- 
ter, purporting to be from Yerkes, that barely implied the forgery of the Yerkes 
affidavits. Now Mr. Yerkes states that no such accounts are on his books, and 
the affidavits are pronounced false and fraudulent. 

I do not assume to explain the motive of Dr. Paine's connection with the letters 
and affidavits referred to. Whether he can do so satisfactorily to the public is a 
question between himself and the public. He seems to have desired to relieve 
Mr. Evans ; Mr. Yerkes naturally desired to relieve himself from imprisonment, 
and they made common cause. On the 6th of December, 1871, Mr. Yerkes was 
convicted, but he was not sentenced until the 10th of February following. The 
affidavits bear date December 2-3, 1871, eighteen days after the conviction, and 
just eighteen days before sentence. During the period between conviction and 
sentence, active efforts were made by Mr. Yerkes and his friends to procure a 
pardon, and it was confidently expected that his pardon would be ready in time 
to save him from going to prison at all. 

I affirm that which is susceptible of the clearest proof in any court of justice, 
that Mr. Yerkes is the author of both the affidavits he now repudiates. If he is 
not their direct author in a manly way, he is their author in a cowardly and un- 
manly way. If he did not write and sign them, he abstained from doing so to 
plead forgery and fraud to save himself in case the affidavits failed of their pur- 
pose — viz: to compel the accounting officers to secure his pardon. That he dic- 
tated the contents of the affidavits, declared the statements to be true, gave them 
all the form of genuineness, either by his own act, or the act of others, and for four 
months after their publication, never ventured to deny their genuineness or truth- 
fulness, although fully advised of them, are facts which^can be established for Mr. 
Yerkes in a court of justice at any time he shall desire it to be done. 

I affirm, also, that the publication of the Yerkes' affidavits delayed his pardon 
for months, and he was, during all the time, conscious of the fact that he continued 
in prison because he had, by those affidavits, offended the power that could open 
or close his prison doors at pleasure. The men who finally bargained for his 
pardon then denounced him for making the affidavits, and had their revenge by 
extending his term of imprisonment. Neither Mr. Yerkes nor the Executive, nor 
the State Treasurer, nor the Auditor General conceived the idea of pronouncing 
the affidavits to be forgeries, until it became a supreme political necessity to obey 
the general demand for the release of Yerkes and Marcer, and to attempt the vin- 
dication of Hartranft from the accusations preferred against him. 

I affirm, also, that Mr. Yerkes was cognizant of the fact that the friends or 
partners of Mr. Evans, made strenuous efforts to enforce the settlement of Mr. 



Evans' accounts as apart of the contract for the pardon, and Dr. Paine's connec- 
tion with the letters and affidavits is thus explained, all of which Mr. Ycrkes was 
fully advised of and assented to at the time. I saw a letter sent by Mr. Yerkes to 
Dr. Paine, within the last two weeks, written with all the cunning and circum- 
spection of a shrewd and unscrupulous attorney, demanding the return to him of 
the original letters and papers, and intimating that if not returned he would be 
compelled to do what would be unpleasant. If they were forged or fraudulent, 
why did he not say so? And why did he want them back in his possession to 
hide them from the public? Would an innocent man, suffering by the guilt of 
others, want the evidence of that guilt destroyed ? 

I affirm, also, that Mr. Yerkes either prepared, or allowed to be prepared for 
him, the following statements, knowing that they were designed to convey a false 
impression to the public: 

"There is no connection between the J. F. Hartranft account and the account 
of the State Treasurer, nor is there anything in his (J. F. Hartranft) account show- 
ing that he was ever benefited by State Treasurer's deposits. 

"There is no entry showing that either the State Treasurer or Auditor General 
ever derived any benefit from State deposits, or any entry to show that the State 
deposits were used by any one but yourself, and in the regular course of your 
business." 

The following letter from General Hartranft, the genuineness of which is undis- 
puted, is a complete answer to the first paragraph : 

Auditor Generai/s Office, "^ 

Harrisbueg, December 21, 1870. j 

Dear Yekkes : Calhoun telegraphed me to-day for money, and I had to 
give a check for $8,700, which he will present to you to-morrow (22d.) I cannot 
avoid this. I met Mackey here on Monday, lie went West in the afternoon and 
will not return until Monday. I did not like to ask him again, but I did not think 
that Calhoun would want any money so soon. I will see you on Saturday ; what- 
ever you want done I will do. I will meet Mackey here on Monday, and what- 
ever is necessary I will ask him to do. Y'ours most truly, 

J. F. Hartranft. 

P. S. Will lift Calhoun's check on Saturday and give you certificate of deposit 
to that amount. J. F. H. 

Mr. Mackey had some $200,000 of State funds deposited with Mr. Yerkes, and 
no other funds on deposit there. Is it not evident that General Hartranft was 
using the money of the State and of Pension Agent Calhoun ? Speculation had 
clearly been rife in both the establishments of Yerkes & Co. and of Pension Agent 
Calhoun, and Hartranft was one of the speculators, employing the public funds 
for the purpose. There is no evidence, or even accusation, that he used any 
money he did not return, but when it is denied by Mr. Yerkes that the public 
money was so used, the denial directly confronts the truth, and, in the case of Mr. 
Yerkes, the denial is made with a full knowledge of the truth. That Y'erkes failed 
and that Calhoun was compelled to resign because of the unsatisfactory condition 
of his pension account, is but cumulative evidence of the speculative use of the 
public money. I do not believe that Major Calhoun was guilty of the approjoria- 
tion of public money to be withheld from the Government, but, with honest inten- 
tions, he suflered embarrassment and removal from office. When it is remem- 
bered that the use of public money by a public officer for private speculation is a 
plain violation of law, and punishable as Yerkes and Marcer were punished, the 
equal justice (hat would consign Yerkes to the penitentiary and Hartranft to the 
Gubernatorial chair will be questioned by many conscientious voters of the State, 
regardless of party obligations. 

I affirm, also, that the second paragraph I have quoted is deliberately intended 
to convey a false impression to the public. That the State Treasurer and Auditor 
General have derived benefit from State deposits with Mr. Yerkes, and that his 
house has paid such profits, are facts susceptible of the clearest proof, and which 
neither Mr. Yerkes, nor any other party interested, dare have investigated before 
any honest tribunal ; and in order that I may not be misunderstood, or be accused 
of evasion, I affirm that the statements of speculation in State securities given by 
Mr. Yerkes in his affidavit have been declared by himself to be true. 



8 

These are grave accusations, and they have not been made in the heat of 
political discussion, for I have prepared them with deliberation and care, and if 
they are untrue in any material respect I could have no excuse to oifer in extenu- 
ation of the wrong I have done to the parties, and especially to Mr. Yerkes. It 
will not be pretended that I control courts and juries in Philadelphia, or have 
any means of contracting for safety if I offend against the laws. I have shielded 
all his rights as a citizen, by declaring that the integrity of his character as a 
man, as men should judge each other in the honest relations of life, has not been 
impaired by a legal offence that is perhaps but common in his profession, and 
does not involve the essence of crime. If therefore, I now wrong him, he is on 
equal footing with any other citizen to vindicate himself. 

The people of Pennsylvania will bear me witness that I have not plunged these 
transactions into the political canvass, that I now discuss ihem for the first time. 
I do so, because to forbear now would be to assent to crime, multipljing crime to 
save itself and protract its power. If this mad attempt to flaunt in the faces of 
the people the fact that under our present political conirol the pardons of the 
Executive .ire but articles of commerce to serve the purposes of unscrupulous po- 
litical leaders, shall fail to arouse the people of Philadelphia to the election of 
State officers who are above reproach or approach, then must every faithful 
citizen despair of relief from the relentless rule that has usurped the power of 
our city and State. Pardons are brought to the prioon doors by one who is the 
agent of the Ring rule, and is met there by two conspicuous members of the Ring 
fraternity. Lips are sealed as to whether the pardons have been issued or not, 
until the prisoner is interviewed in his lonely cell for half an hour, to procure 
his assent to the hard conditions imposed. It was liberty, home, and family 
pleading on the one hand, with the tempter by his side, and honor, tiuth and 
manhood on the other. It was a hard necessity, a cruel choice, and Mr. Yerkes 
cannot live long without realizing the sad truth that a lifetime of liberty cannot 
compensate for the price paid for his pardon. 

The speaker then discussed the action of our merchants and business men in 
endorsing the Ring rule of the city and State. He said that three meetings of 
that character had been held during the present year. One was held in the 
Board of Trade rooms to devise measures to prevent capital from being driven 
from our city by the extortions of Ring government. Another was held in Hor- 
ticultural Hall to demand the overthrow of the Rings of our city. The third was 
held a few evenings ago to devise measures to jwrpetuate the same Ring power, 
and entrench it safely in power for three years more. 



■♦ 

REFORM vs. CORRUPTION. 



-^ 



THE VOICE OF A PATRIOT, 



What he knows about Hartranft. 



PEECH OF EX-GOVERNOR CURTIN 

At tie great reception tendered him by the citizens of Centre, Clinton, Clear- 
field and Blair Counties, at Bellefonte, on Saturday evening, September 28, 1872. 

My friends and neighbors, I am glad to see you. A residence in a foreign 
country of different associations and political organization, so far from weakening 
my affection for my native country and my admiration for her free and glorious 
institutions, has strengthened and confirmed them. I return home after 

An Absence of Three Years 

and a half, separated from all the political asperities which divide men and coun- 
trymen too often in this country, feeling none of those violent opinions which 
excite men in a political contest, such as I now find engaging the vast people of 
my country. Away from the newspapers and party drill, I have imbibed none of 
that fierce political hatred, for it is only political hatred which seems to have 
inspired parties and men in the United States. Why, it is strange to a man absent 
so long from his country to find "thief, liar, traitor," modest words in the political 
literature of the country. Traitor is a common word, and yet a man who inde- 
pendently, in this country attempts what he believes is right, must be denounced. 
My fellow-citizens, I long acted with the party called Republican. I received 
its honors, I- discharged its duties, and I tried to discharge my duty. [Applause.] 
It was the pleasure of the people of this State to lift me to a position of the highest 
honor in years, long years, of great suffering, when the country was torn and 
convulsed by civil war. I witnessed that sfruggle with regret. I did not measure 
its magnitude, nor did I understand its full consequences. I was for my Govern- 
ment intact, and did not believe that any State or combination of States had a 
right to secede from the Union ; certainly that they had 

JVo ItigJit 

to plunge the country into a civil war. When the war was over I belonged to that 
class of men in the Republican party who believed in general amnesty and the 



ballot. What could we do ? Could we kill all the men in the rebellion, or could 
we take them back. (A voice — "take them back.") The general sentiment of 
the best statesmen in this land was that we should take them back into the fellow- 
ship of the Union, and if they rebelled again, teach them again we could compel 
them to obey the laws. I believed at that time, and believe now, that we could 
have had peace throughout the land if a general amnesty could have been pro- 
claimed and the ballot with it. [Applause.] 

My fellow-citizens, the war came on through the teachings of certain Southern 
politicians, who supported a doctrine commonly called State rights. Now I fear, 
my fellow-citizens, that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. 
[Applause.] And while we had just reason to complain of the insiduous work of 
States rights, we have also a just right to complain that there is 

Too 3Iuch Centralization 

of Government just now, overlooking the just right of the States. 

I now come to speak of Pennsylvania. My friends and neighbors, all your 
rights of property, all your rights of personal liberty, are found protected in the 
Government of the State. You scarcely felt the impress of the National Govern- 
ment. Our courts are State courts, our laws are State laws. You find your rights 
and interests protected in the Government of the State. Now I am told to-day, I 
was told in England, that the State of Pennsylvania must elect a ticket put into 
the field, because it affected the election of a President. I hold to no such doc- 
trine. I would not humiliate my State by such a doctrine. I would 

Preserve to the States 

all the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution, and would accord to the 
National Government all the powers given it by that instrument. The protection 
of the people of Pennsylvania, and the preservation of the purity of their Govern- 
ment is a question for themselves, in which other States have comparatively little 
interest, and which has no connection with national politics. Now, my fellow-citi- 
zens, I have declared in a letter recently written, and which has given offense to 
some of my political friends, that I would not support the ticket put in nomination 
last spring, and will support for Governor Charles R. Buckalew. [Applause.] I 
know Mr. Buckalew well; have known him for twenty years. He has made his 
mark upon the legislation and Constitution of the State. I have differed with him 
in political opinions, and have acted with the party in opposition to his views. I 
have never received his support for an ofBce in my life, but I know he is a 

Pure, Monest Man. 

[Applause.] Now, my fellow-citizens, I have nothing to say against General 
Hartranft; he was a gallant soldier, and served his country faithfully, but in an 
evil hour, in his ambition, he wanted to become Governor of Pennsylvania. If he 
had been Governor for six years he would not be quite so anxious for the honor. 
[Laughter.] He connected himself with a ring surrounding the Treasury of the 
State, not of recent date. It has been in full power for six years. The present 
Governor of Pennsylvania was nominated and elected by the influence of this 
same ring. It has been there ever since. It then was formed and a combination 
made to elect the Governor and provide all the machinery by which they could 
reach every county in the State, where they could control a vote and return their 
chief to the United States Senate 



3 

It is Said 

that all this is fair. How fair ? General Irwin, of Beaver county, was six years 
Commissary General of Pennsylvania. He held that office during the war. I 
never heard an objection made to the discharge of his official duties while in that 
office. I never heard him charged with malfeasance in office. There was no 
combination for plunder around him. I don't know in the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania to-day a man on whose word I could rely with more steadfast belief 
than that of General Irwin. Have you read his statement? He says that when 
he was State Treasurer Mr. Scott was elected Senator, and a new election was to 
be held the coming winter, that he was waited upon by certain individuals, and 
they proposed to him that they would re-elect him to the office if he would take 
out of the Treasury $148,000, a balance due on the amount expended on the elec- 
tion of Mr. Scott. Now, my friends, Mr. Scott was no party to that. I believe 
Mr. Scott to be an honestrman, but he was 

Selected by the Ming, 

and they expended the money. General Irwin refused their request, and he was 
turned out of office and Mr. Robert W. Mackey elected. Now, my friends, Mr. 
Robert W. Mackey was a teller in a bank in Pittsburg. He seemed to have quali- 
ties that suited the gentlemen who surrounded the Treasury of the State, and he 
was made State Treasurer. He is there now in office, and asks for a re-election. Un- 
fortunately for General Hartranft, he was Auditor General of the accounts of Penn- 
sylvania. We had but two officers connected with the Treasury of Pennsylvania, 
the Treasurer and Auditor General. They liold the books, and they hold in a fidu- 
ciary capacity the money raised by the taxation of the people. It is a penal 
offense for the State Treasurer of Pennsylvania to make profits from deposits in the 
Treasury. You will find by an examination of the reports of the Treasurer that 
from a million and a half to two million and a half, and sometimes three millions 
of dollars, are kept in the Treasury, and this balance \s held for the entire year. 
That money is put out on interest, and thus he is enabled to buy his office and 
sustain the Ring. Very well; he is doing this. They employed a broker in Phil- 
adelphia named Yerkes. I do not speak of what is charged, but of 

WJiat is Proven 

by the books of Yerkes. This transaction amounted in one year to hundreds of 
thousands of dollars, and you will find that Mr. Mackey, State Treasurer, received 
his share, and unfortunately the candidate for Governor received his share. Now 
it is said by their party supporters that other men did the very same thing. They 
say they did no more than other Auditor Generals and State Treasurers have done. 
It was the good fortune, then, of those who did it not to be found out ; and it will 
be the pleasure of the people of Pennsylvania, as it is their highest duty, when 
they are found out, not to give them suffrages or elevate them to higher places. 
Now, my friends, I never had the support of the members of this Treasury Ring, 
and never had their votes. It was my good fortune not to have their friendship. 
When I was in England, on ray way home, I found what ticket had been nomi- 
nated. I made up my mind then that the ticket might be withdrawn, as there 
seemed to be some arrangement to effect that purpose, and I hoped that it would 
be; and I have no hesitation in saying to-night if such a man as Mr. Ketchum or 
Colonel Jordan, who were both candidates, had been nominated at Harrisburg, I 



would not be in your presence. But if they choose to take a man from that Penn- 
sylvania Treasury combination or Ring, I would be insensible to gratitude and 

False to the Trust 

imposed in me if I dared to declare myself in favor of it. I knew very well the 
penalty of my present course, and I discounted it before taking the stand I did. 
I only regret, my friends and neighbors, that it pleased Providence to throw me 
on a bed of sickness. I lost nearly a month. If I had had my health and strength 
I would have traveled from Lake Erie to the Delaware. [Applause.] I have a 
perfect right to stand by you, fellow-citizens of Pennsylvania — a right to affiliate 
with any party who will purify the government of my State. [Applause.] I have 
no doubt that to-nighi I stand in the presence of many of vny friends and neigh- 
bors who would not have been* here if I had not declared these sentiments. 1 
have no doubt if I could look over this crowd and see it I would note the absence 
of many of my old friends. [Laughter, and a voice, " Plenty of new ones in their 
places."] I accord to every American citizen the right to express his sentiments 
and exercise the highest, noblest and most sacred duty which an American citizen 
performs, that of exercising the duty of suffrage — the casting of his ballot. Has 
it come to this ? When a man chooses to cast his ballot from an honest conviction 
that it is his duty to cast it for honest men and against the Ring surrounding the 
Treasury of the State, and elbow-deep in it, that he is to be denounced. I 
have no doubt that the word traitor will be freely used. Traitor to what ? To 
his country ? No, to party. What party ? We all claim — Democrats claim, and 
Republicans on the other side, that they are both 

Parties of Purity, 

and, separate from all this, I come here after an absence of three years and a half 
without feeling any of this emotion. I look over the field, and am prepared next 
Tuesday week to cast my ballot against the candidate of that Ring. It is said, my 
friends, if you vote for Buckalewyou will vote for traitors, you will vote for rebel 
sympathizers, you will vote for men who held back during the war. I have heard 
that before, my friends, when the war closed by the courage of the soldiers. It 
was not by statesmen, not by generals ; they did their part, but we sustained our 
Government, maintained its integrity by the force, power and courage of the men 
who carried the musket and held the sabre. Remember, my friends, it is not 
generals, colonels, captains or majors that preserved to us this heritage of liberty 
and equality which we received from ancestors. We owe it to the 

Cofmnon Soldier. 

Where is he ? He is not elevated. He served his country faithfully, and he 
is now serving his country by his labor. We find when the war closed the 
men who clamored most that rebels should be shot were the men who surrounded 
the camps, were quartermasters by profession, who bought oats and horses. I 
could name some of them to you to-night. I could tell you names of some who 
fattened on army contracts. Now they call a man who dares to assert his inde- 
pendence and his right as an American citizen a "traitor." [Laughter.] My 
friends, I know that, when the country was bleeding at every pore — when 
every household had lost its favorite — when there was blood on every door-sill — 



when the graves of our brave soldiers were in every cemetery in the State — when 
every breast blazed with enthusiasm, and when the soldier to save his Govern- 
ment marched into the jaws of death — these men furnished the camp with horses, 
oats and hay, and fattened, and they were for hanging the rebels. Of all the 
men that were engaged in the war, the most forgiving men were 

Tliose ivho Fought it Out. 

We all advised men to go to war. I did it with others. The soldiers forgave 
and forgot — real soldiers, not the sham soldiers. The real soldier forgot his inju- 
ries, and with the desire to make this country prosperous, to return to friend- 
ship for those warring States, to give us peace — heaven-borned and blessed peace, 
and never again return to fierce struggle and sectional hate. 

The condition of many of the States of the South should admonish the people 
of Pennsylvania, when called upon, as they are now, to again entrust men with 
the Government, and especially with their Treasury, to be careful that they sur- 
render the trust to pure hands. If the control of the internal affairs of the States 
had been given to the people themselves, their condition could not have been 
worse ; as it is, many of them are so burthened by debts contracted since the 
war, a large part of which has not been used for the benefit of the people, that 
oppressive taxation if not bankruptcy is universally threatened. The independent 
people of Pennsylvania are asked to-day to obey the dictation of a mad coterie of 
politicians who hold the official places, giving them the custody and control of the 
money of the people and their coadjutors who profit by its use ; and it is now 
fairly on you whether allegiance to party and the discipline of party ties are para- 
mount to the unquestioned right of the people to restore the purity of their govern- 
ment and correct well-known abuses. 

I will not say anything against General Hartranft personally. He served the 
country faithfully through the war. He was elected to his present place fairly 
and without any affiliation with the combination which controlled the last conven- 
tion, but, in his desire to be Governor, he is unfortunate in his confidential and 
intimate surroundings. It was unfortunate for General Hartranft that the Auditor 
General elected last autumn died, as the General would have retired last May. In 
the light of the developments made in the failure and conviction of Yerkes and 
the expose of the Evans peculation, nothing has — nothing could have a worse 
appearance than the Legislative action to continue him in office until after the 
election. Besides various apprehensions are entertained that the Treasury should 
be examined, and, as it is, the money, books and evidence are in the hands of a 
candidate for Governor and a candidate for re-eleciion as State Treasurer. It has 
a bad appearance, of which independent men have aright to complain. It is said 
that Yerkes, the broker, who had the money of the State, and with whom the 
candidates for Governor and Treasurer had dealings and correspondence, has been 
pardoned. It is too late to be of any service — none— and any promises he may 
have made, or statements he may make, will be named with distrust as the consid. 
eration of his liberty. 

The facts of the Evans' defalcation are before the people so far as evidence 
could be procured — I believe Pennsylvania was the first State to settle with the 
National Government — the accounts were settled, the State received fifteen per 





cent, allowed by the aet of Congress, and the balance was paid in money, Mr. 
Slenker was at the time Auditor General and Henry D. Moore was Treasurer, both 
honest and faithful officers. It cost the State the pay of one staff officer, Major 
W. McMichael, of Philadelphia, who did his duties so well, and labored with such 
untiring zeal, that it was only surprising that the accounts and vouchers were so 
clear when the want of experience and the confusion of the beginning of the war 
is remembered. There was a balance due the State founded upon vouchers not 
in perfect form, and there were claims yet to be presented. Long after the settle- 
ment I wrote a letter to Mr. McCuUough, the Secretary of the Treasury, which 
has been published — which he answered. His answer was satisfactory, but it is 
said cannot now be found. 

It has in some way disappeared. In 1867, under an act of Assembly, Evans 
was appointed to and did collect the balance due the State, and last year it became 
known to the people that the money was not in the treasury. If the custodians of 
the public money did not know the money was collected, there is certainly a degree 
of negligence almost criminal, and if any of them did know they should have 
compelled payment. When the transaction was exposed Evans claimed ten per 
cent, on the claims settled by the officials I have named. He claims, according to 
his statement and the evidence of his friends, that he prepared and passed at 
Washington the accounts and vouchers for supplies furnished by the State in every 
variety of military material, making it in small items, and in the aggregate 
amounting to a large sum of money in less than one month. I have not noticed 
who he had at Washington to assist him. He paid sums of money, as he testifies, 
and it is not denied that he loaned money to General Hartranft. It is unfor- 
tunate that the loan was made, and unpleasant that the money was returned 
after the explosion of the enterprise. It is painful to speak of such associations, 
but it is surely not unfair to say that there is a heavy atmosphere surrounding 
the treasury, and that it should be open to the gaze of the people. That cannot 
be accomplished if these men now in charge of its vaults are kept there, or 
elevated to still higher positions. 

I don't like this borrowing. [Laughter.] It will do well enough to call it by that 
name [laughter], if it was borrowed you know, but it was strange that it was bor- 
rowed from Evans. [Applause.] And then that it was not returned even for some 
time after the people knew that Evans had been holding the money which belonged 
to the State. [Cheers and yells.] 

You will understand that everything that that Convention at Harrisburg did was 
not so bad. They did one thing that I am very well satisfied with. They made 
a very good ticket for delegates to the Constitutional Convention, and I congratu- 
late you that they nominated Mr. McAllister, your neighbor, whose loyalty and 
integrity are unquestioned. Indeed, some of the other names are of unexception- 
able character — loyal and experienced, and imbued with hope that the organic law 
of Pennsylvania will be changed and amended, and such safeguards put around 
the treasury as will prevent the corruption of the young men of our State. 

I have told you, my fellow-citizens, that I never had the support of that ring, 
never expect to have it. [Applause.] Certainly, it would be impossible to have 
it by the course I am taking now. [Applause.] 



Why there exists in my heart to-day not an unkind feeling towards a man, 
woman, or child in Centre county, and I have delightful recollections that in all 
my going forth and returning to this town I received the congratulations of all 
the people of this place and vicinity. Truly I should not attract to myself the 
enmity and maledictions of my good, kind, personal friends, because I have 
deliberately made up my mind that, with the gratitude I owe to the people of 
Pennsylvania for their extended favor, and with some correct knowledge of the 
affairs of the State, that I will lend myself to the elevation to power again of men 
who have been pilfering the public treasury, they should have no spite at me. 
[Applause.] You know they can do it if they please, but let every man reconcile 
his action with his own conscience. You can all do precisely as you please, but 
my impression is very strong that I will agree with the majority of the people of 
Pennsylvania, next Tuesday week. [Sreat cheering.] And besides they ought 
not to complain of me for affiliating with Democrats, I having never quarreled 
with them. 

But for the election of a President, no one could pretend that this ticket will be 
successful. It would be beaten by seventy-five thousand, and it is unjust that any 
election out of the State, either State or National, should control the people of 
Pennsylvania when they please, to purify their own Government. 

And is it right that those who join in such an eflfort should be denounced, called 
traitors or any other pet name of that kind, known to the political literature of 
this day? Personally, I desire to have pleasant relations, social and political, 
with everybody in my native county. I did the act after full deliberation, and 
thought it my right as a citizen of the State. With a knowledge of the manipula- 
tion of the convention and the influences that placed the ticket before the people, I 
desired to do what was right, and to return some measure of gratitude for the kind 
confidence the people of Pennsylvania had given me. My convictions of duty 
were clear, and influenced by such considerations we meet to-night. 

Fortunately, the Democrats put in nomination an upright and pure man. / know 
and know well Charles R. Buckalew is an honest man. [Great applause.] Believe 
he will labor with the convention to make reforms in the Constitution — he will 
put the legislative power beyond the reach of corruption, in harmony with the 
will of that convention. 

The African had made little progress in his native country, and the experiment 
of even freedom to him in the West Indies may be regarded in a large measure a 
failure. It was reserved and was ordered by Providence for this great people to 
give to the race here the free rights of citizenship. All good and true men look 
with just hopes for the success of the experiment — to complete their full manhood 
they and now for the first time vote for President. Is it not a great wrong to the 
negro to use him, to teach him that he has the ballot only to be used by desperate 
and designing men? 

Nothing in this contest is more to be regretted by all friends of the colored 
race, than the negro is being used in this election without regard to his acquired 
rights. We hear of negroes arriving in Blair county, Clinton county, Columbia 
and Lycoming counties. It was a brave, grand act of the American people to raise 
this downtrodden and oppressed race to an equality with the rest of humanity — it 



is doing them justice to place them where they can assert their manhood and in- 
dividuality, but in justice to them, nay, in pity of them, do not use them as drilled 
and disciplined stipendiaries, carrying them to the State to vote where they have 
no citizenship. 

Leave the poor negro to himself — teach him to be independent, to assert his 
manhood — let him go to the polls and there deposit his vote according to the 
dictates of his own conscience and with the knowledge which he possesses ; but 
don't drive them from the District of Columbia and from Maryland, to control the 
elections of a free and independent people. 

Let us have a fair election in the light of day — let men go to the polls and vote 
according to the dictates of their consciences, exercising the right given to every 
citizen according to the Constitution and the laws. 



The Last Shriek of the Ring. 



The Desperation of Ring Rulers in 

Philadelphia. 



On Friday, October 4, 1872, after a protracted consultation the day before, 
between the parties to the address and Mayor Stokley, the following card was pre- 
pared, with the hope of diverting the public mind from the consummation of the 
stupendous frauds planned by the Philadelphia-Cameron-Hartranft Ring, and 
published in the papers of the city : 



The Sh/t'iek of tJie Office-Solders. 

MITTEB, 1 

[, Club, > 

I, 1872. J 



Headquarters Executive Committee, 
Hartranft Central 
Philadelphia, October 4, 



The Committee to whom was referred the investigation of the statement that 
there existed a conspiracy to perpetrate an extensive election fraud on Tuesday 
next, respectfully report that they have positive evidence that thousands of certifi- 
cates of naturalization have been printed in the night time, in the second story of 
the printing office, in Fifth street near Locust street, to which a counterfeit seal 
of the Court of Quarter Sessions of this county has been attached, and have been 
distributed for use upon election day in the counties of Berks, Northampton, 
Clarion, Clearfield, Elk, Luzerne and Schuylkill, in some instances to gangs of alien 
laborers, now employed in constructing railroads throughout the State. 

The fraud is of the same character, but upon a larger scale than that perpetrated 
in 1856, by means of which the State was carried against the Republican party. 
Your Committee have positive proof that the conspiracy is planned by Colonel A. 
K. McClure, Chairman of the Liberal Committee, Hon. SamuelJ. Randall, Chair- 
man of the Democratic State Committee, and Alderman William McMullin; and 
in addition to the living witnesses (?) we have before us the following letter, 
which came to us direct from the possession of Colonel Alex. K. McClure, in the 
following unmistakable language : 

"A. K. McC: 

See McMullin to-day. He has all the naturalization papers. It is vital they 
should be in hand at once. Meet me to-night. 

Yours, SAMUEL J. RANDALL." 

A conspiracy has been formed with the speculators in Wall street, New York, 
to defeat the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania, the money for the purpose to the 
extent of $40,000 having been sent here by those engaged in "bearing" stocks and 



"bulling" gold. They believe a disaster to the Republican party of Pennsylvania, 
rendering the election of Greeley as President probable, would have a damaging 
effect upon the business and financial interest of the country, and thus enable 
them to reap a rich harvest from the misfortunes of their fellow-citizens. The 
conspirators in Pennsylvania have engaged to carry the State by means of the 
use of these fraudulent naturalization papers, and by boldly and recklessly chang- 
ing the official returns in the Democratic counties of the State, so as to over- 
whelm the large Republican majorities which they expect to give in the Repub- 
lican counties, and although such fraudulent alterations would be corrected upon 
the assembling of the Legislature in January next, yet the worst effect of an 
apparent election of Buckalew would be gained, and would materially affect not 
only the stock and gold market upon which these conspirators would profit, but 
would affect also the November election in other States. This has emboldened 
those in the secret, who are boasting and betting large sums of money that Bucka- 
lew will come to Philadelphia with a large majority, and an ex-member of Con- 
gress from New York, has recently been in this city, betting large sums of money 
upon the success of Buckalew. Your committee has taken measures to thwart 
the operations of these conspirators, by communicating with the Republicans of 
the State, and making preparations to arrest the progress of the nefarious work. 
The information in the possession of the committee has been communicated to 
the authorities of the United States, and the full details will be presented to them 
for consideration. It will then be for the government of the United States, to 
determine whether such outrageous offences against the elective franchise at an 
election when members of Congress are to be chosen, shall pass unpunished. 

Your committee deem it proper that notices of the contemplated fraud should 
be promulgated to all.our Republican friends who reside in the Democratic coun- 
ties in the State, in order that they may procure evidence when the fraudulent 
papers may be used, and submit the same to the authorities of the United States. 
Respectfully, JOHN L. HILL, 

WILLIAM R. LEEDS, 
CHARLES H. T. COLLIS, 
PETER A. B. WIDENER, 
JAMES N. KERNS. 
It was then resolved by the Club "That the report of the Committee be accepted 
and the Committee continued, and that the same be published over the signature 
of the officers of the Club and the Committee." 

W. B. MANN, President. 
JOSEPH K. FLETCHER, Secretary. 



The Shriek of the Ming Mayor, 

Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, ") 

October 5, 1872. / 

Jlon. A. H. Smith, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pe7insyl- 

vania : 

Dear Sir : Information has been laid before me that a conspiracy to perpe- 
trate election frauds on Tuesday next in Berks, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Northampton 
and other counties exists, by which a large number of aliens have been supplied 
with naturalization papers purporting to be issued by the Court of Quarter Ses- 
sions of this county. These naturalization papers are manufactured in this city 
by parties whose names I hope to be able to furnish to you in a day or two, 
together with the names of others in the plot, whose movements have been closely 
watched during the past ten days. 

I have in my possession for your use, whenever required, a letter from the Hon. 
Samuel J. Randall to A. K. McClure, in the following words : 

"A. K. Mc . See McMullin to-day. He has all the naturalization papers. 

It is vital they should be in hand at once. Meet me to-night. 

"Yours, SAM. J. RANDALL." 



1 



8 

And T am now prepared to give the names of unimpeachable "witnesses who will 
authenticate this letter. As these contemplated frauds have been concocted here, 
I intend to lay the matter before the District Attorney of the county ; but as it is 
intended to consummate them outside of this jurisdiction, I deemed it my duty to 
lay the facts before you also. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM S. STOKLEY. 

To this letter the following reply was sent: 

Office of United States Attorney, 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia, October 5, 1872. 

Hon. William S. Stokley, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia: 

Sir : Your letter to me of this date, stating that information has reached you 
of the existence of a conspiracy to perpetrate frauds on Tuesday next in Berks, 
Luzerne and other counties, and that you hope to be able in a day or two to fur- 
nish me with evidence that the laws of the United States are about to be violated 
by the parties implicated, is just received. I will give the matter immediate and 
earnest attention as soon as the evidence referred to is laid before me. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

AUBREY H. SMITH, 

United States Attorney. 

Mr, McClure Answers. 

The address published in several of the morning papers, signed by Tax Col- 
lector Hill, Sheriff Leeds, City Solicitor Collis, City Treasurer Widener, U. S. 
Marshal Kerns, and District Attorney Mann, giving to the public what purports 
to be a letter written to me by Hon. Samuel J. Randall, demands notice only be- 
cause of the statement, sanctioned by the District Attorney, that they " have 
positive proof that this conspiracy (to circulate and use fraudulent naturalization 
papers) is planned by Colonel A. K. McClure, chairman of the Liberal Commit- 
tee ; Hon. Samuel J. Randall, chairman of the Democratic State Central Commit- 
tee, and Alderman William McMullin." 

What is given as a letter from Mr. Randall to me is a pure invention, deliberate 
forgery. No such letter was ever received by me from Mr. Randall ; no confer- 
ence nor communication of any kind has been had between the parties named and 
myself on the subject of naturalization papers, either honest or fraudulent, and I 
have not conferred with any person in Philadelphia, or elsewhere, in any way 
whatever, to make a dishonest or illegal vote. The parties who have invented this 
accusation against me have given me employment for all my energies in just the 
opposite direction. 

Need I say to the public that if the officials who make the charge had "positive 
proof" of my guilt they would not have made a lame assault through the news- 
papers? They now cont^'ol the channels through which honest judges are compelled 
to go through the mockery of administering justice in Philadelphia. 

If they had the "positive proof" of crime on my part, I would have been 
promptly in the hands of the law, and notified that I could be "railroaded" or 
not, at their pleasure. I would have been required to employ the procurer of 
Yerkes and the executioner of the inquisition that holds Marra on the wheel as 
my counsel, whose mission it would be to present me the choice of political obedi- 
ence or conviction and punishment. If obdurate, conviction would follow, and 
then my only chance of escape would be a certificate to the parties accusing me 
that they had never stutfed a ballot box or procured the fraudulent alteration of 
election returns. 

District Attorney Mann knows whether there is evidence of my guilt. If there 
is, he owes it to himself and to the public to proceed at once to vindicate the laws 



by my prompt arrest, conviction, and punisliment. I will thank him to take the 
speediest measures possible to demonstrate to the public whether I am guilty of 
attempting election frauds, or whether he is guilty of lending himself to the pub- 
lication of a false charge. If he can justify himself by signing the address, he 
can have no justification for failing to prosecute the offence without delay. 

^. K. McCLURE. 
Philadeiphia, October 5, 1872. 



Mr, Randall Answers* 

Philadelphia, Oct. 5, 1872. 

An address has appeared in the daily papers from five Republican office-holders, 
designating themselves as a Committee of the Harfranft Central Club, containing 
a letter purporting to have been written to Colonel A. K. McClure by myself, 
which I pronounce to be a forgery. I will add further, that I have no knowledge 
nor have I communicated with any one relative to naturalization papers, and that 
the chfirge in the address of a conspiracy between Colonel A. K. McClure, Alder- 
man William McMullin and myself, relative to issuing fraudulent papers, is 
equally false. 

Late last Friday evening, hearing of this base charge, I promptly had in the 
morning papers an emphatic denial of the same, which was, at my instance, tel- 
egraphed throughout the country. After Tuesday next, when I shall be at leisure, 
it is my intention, if possible, to bring the conspirators and perpetrators of this 
infamous fraud and forgery to punishment. 

SAML. J. RANDALL. 



McClure Reviews the Ring Shriek, 

The Press has the following report of Senator McClure's Germantown speech, 
delivered on the evening of the 5th, reviewin g the whole affair: 

While the immense meeting on the street was being addressed by Messrs. 
James and Vaux, the meeting in the hall was crowded to suffocation to hear 
Senator McClure. It was, of course, expected that he would notice the "last 
cards" of the Ring, and the appetite of the vast audience was whetted to the 
keenest point for the expected assault. McClure was received with the most 
tumultuous applause by his Germantown constituents, and he appeared as fresh as 
if it was his first speech of the campaign. It was evident from the manner of his 
opening that he regarded himself as master of the situation in the issue between 
the Ring office-holders and himself, and instead of vituperation or personal de- 
nunciation of his accusers, he convulsed the audience by his merciless imiective, 
mingled with infinite humor. He discussed only city and State affairs, and we 
can find room for but a brief report of his review of the last Ring roorback, 
charging him with attempting to use fraudulent naturalization papers. After re- 
ferring in more general terms to the corruption that the Rings have forced into 
every channel of authority in city and State, he said : Just as this fierce contest 
against unexampled fraud is about to close ; just when we had for months given 
our undivided energies to arrest the pollution of the ballot-boi, we are met with 
the accusation that I have been planning a campaign of fraud myself, and have 
been conspiring with Mr. Randall and Alderman McMullin to circulate, for fraudu- 
lent use, false naturalization papers. When it is considered that every depart- 
ment of power — police, political and judicial— is in accord with the Republican 
organization ; that it has boundless means and numberless experts to shield itself 
from fraud ; that it has usurped and monopolized every channel through which 
illegal votes can be polled, and that it jealously guards its peculiar prerogatives, 



6 

it will require very conclusive evidence to convince the public that counter ft-auda 
have been attempted by those in responsible position on the Liberal side. They 
must in this case first prove conclusively that I am a fool before they can get a 
foothold to prove that I am a scoundrel. [Laughter.] I don't think that any of 
my accusers, all of whom got into uncomfortably close quarters with me in the 
skirmish in the Fourth district last winter, will insist that they can establish the 
first proposition — indeed, most of them, in this age of forced certificates of cha- 
racter [laughter] have voluntarily testified otherwise, and the bungling way in 
which they try to prove me a conspirator to pollute the election would disgrace 
the school boys of the Ring repeaters. Here is the basis of the charge, in shape 
of what purports to be a letter addressed to me by Mr. Randall : 

"A. K. MeC. : 

•' See McMuUin to-day. He has all the naturalization papers. It is vital they 
should be in hand at once. Meet me to-night. 

SAM. J. RANDALL." 

If this wag a genuine letter, it would not even give reasonable evidence of 
intended wrong, but as it is a deliberate forgery, I don't know whether most to 
complain of the forgery itself or of the stupidity with which it has been fashioned. 
It would have been no worse to mako a plausible, ingenious falsehood, than to 
make a bungling one, and I must confess that it is the best evidence I have had 
lately that the Ring leaders in their trepidation have lost their cunning. The par- 
don of Yerkes by contract, to procure a certificate of honesty for their candidate 
was, I thought, the sublimity of stupidity ; but to forge a meaningless letter, 
without proof to connect it with actual or intended frauds, is the last confession 
of the demoralized Ring that their cunning has forsaken them in their dire ex- 
tremity. (Applause.) 

Let me say here, that every material part of the address issued from the Har- 
tranft Club yesterday, so far as it relates to myself, is wholly false (cheers), and 
I am compelled to say more — the men who issued it must have known that it was 
false. If they even believed the letter genuine, they stated what they knew to be 
untrue when they proclaimed that they had " positive proof" that two others and 
myself had " planned " a •' conspiracy" to circulate and use fraudulent naturaliza- 
tion papers. The address is, therefore, so far as I am concerned, false in every 
accusation, and the letter on which it was founded never was received or heard 
of by me. (Applause.) Had I received such a note from Mr. Randall, I would 
not have understood it ; for we never, either directly or indirectly, conferred on 
the subject of naturalization papers of any kind, and I have not had any com- 
munication with McMuUin on politics since the campaign opened, excepting once, 
when he came with a committee to arrange for a meeting at Concert Hall. And 
Mr. Randall is equally emphatic in his denial that he ever wrote, or conferred 
with, me on the subject. The letter is given without heading or date, and lacks 
even the ordinary marks of genuineness. It has the appearance of having been 
hurriedly or carelessly written, while it is claimed as the key to a stupendous 
fraud. I might say here confidentially (laughter) that both Mr. Randall and my- 
self hafve understood from the start that thieves beset us in the pay of the Rings 
(laughter); that forgery was at hand whenever needed by the Rings, and that 
perjury can be had by contract at any time to serve their purposes. When we 
have had anything of moment to consult about in this campaign, we have consulted 
personally, often meeting half a dozen times a day for the purpose, and both have 
had trusty messengers to deliver verbal communications besides. We knew that 
we were well watched by men who know all about frauds, from personal and long 
practice (laughter), and we did not correspond on any matters of moment. 

But who makes the accusation ? When evidence is doubtful the people look to 
the source of the accusation and to the possibility and probability of the accused 
doing what is charged. The address comes from the head-quarters of the " Hart- 
ranft Central Club," (laughter), just where the repeaters came from in the special 
Senatorial election last winter. And who have assumed to investigate and accuse ? 
Let us look at the names : Tax Collector John L. Hill, salary, $65,000 a year and 
Perquisites (laughter) ; High Sheriff William R. Leeds, (fees from $75,000 to 



6 

$100,000 a year, mostly illegal (laughter) ; City Solicitor Major General Charles 
H. T. CoUis, salary, $6,000 and perquisites]" as you like it" (shouts of laughter) ; • 
City Treasurer Peter A. B. Widener, salary, $5,000 and interest account, with side 
speculations in warrants ; for particulars see Eoening Bulletin last year, when it 
made a short experiment of telling the truth (laughter and applause) ; United 
States Marshal James N. Kerns, salary, $5,000, and whisky and other perqui- 
sites (laughter), and District Attorney William B. Mann, fees, $50,000 and chances, 
(laughter and applause). These men sat in grave council yesterday, with Mayor 
Stokeley, and deliberated most of the day how to avert this stupendous fraud. 

Of course the public will know that such a body of men, closeted a few days 
before the election, could mean nothing else than to defeat fraud, for any and all 
of them would recoil from fraud as they would recoil from pestilence. (Laughter.) 
Mayor Stokeley is an honest man, for he has said so himself, and he ought to know 
(shouts of laughter), and no one would for a moment suppose that the others 
would tolerate a fraud upon the ballot-box. (Laughter and cheers.) Indeed, the 
wonder is, that this conclave of election "innocents " — (the audience stopped the 
speaker for some time with convulsive laughter and cheers) — the wonder is, I say, 
that these models of unsophisticated political purity ever got election frauds into 
their minds. Certainly Tim Rc-illy or Dan Redding must have told them that the 
letter meant to pollute the election, or they would doubtless have thought of any- 
thing but that. Had they been let alone in their childlike and untempted integrity 
they would probably have rendered a verdict like the backwoods jury, that ac- 
quitted the prisoner of arson but decided that he must marry the girl (shouts of 
laughter), and they would likely have pronounced the letter to be evidence of an 
alien invasion of the moon. (Cheers.). How the public will rejoice to learn that 
this committee of stainless office-holders, who perform the most arduous duties 
with little or no pay (laughter),*' have taken measures to thwart the operations 
of these conspirators," and are "making preparations to arrest the progress of 
this nefarious work." The broad shield of these faithful officials has been thrown 
over the purity of the ballot-box, and the people must, of course, rest in undis- 
turbed security. 

It is true that they are not as prompt in "arresting the progress of this nefari- 
ous work" as they might have been, but that must be attributed to the unsophis- 
ticated inexperience of the men. They have in their possession the "positive 
proof" of the guilt of Randall, McMullin and myself. Of course, they must have 
it, for they all say so, and there is not one of them who did not cut a score of 
cherry trees with little hatchets, when they were boys, as did Washington, to 
prove their undying devotion to trqth. (Shouts of laughter.) They doubtless 
would have arrested the. nefarious work at once, but they did not know how it 
could be done. There are but two lawyers in the list of names appended to the 
address, and of course they did not know anything about the law applicable to 
frauds, as they have never had any experience in that line. (Laughter.) Collia 
is City Solicitor, and, like the doctor who could only cure fits, he could apply the 
law only when it comes to issuing bonds to contractors. He was, therefore, a 
stranger to the law of this novel case. Colonel Mann has only had a brief experi- 
ence of some fifteen years as public prosecutor in our criminal courts, and he 
could not be expected, in that short time, to comprehend a case so exceptional as 
the "positive proof" of a conspiracy to pollute an election. (Laughter.) • 

He was confused, and with "positive proof" in his possession, his untutored 
innocence of the law misled him to "making preparation to arrest the progress of 
this nefarious work," instead of at once handing the guilty parties over to the law 
and employing the "positive proof" to convict and punish them. (Cheers and 
applause.) 

Of course none of this committee understood that the alleged offence is one that 
is amply provided for by our State laws, and that the United States authorities 
can punish only when we have Congressmen to elect. They therefore hand the 
case over to the United States courts, and lose four days' time, when the election 
is only five days distant. They lay the evidence formally before the immaculate 
Stokeley ; his honest bosom heaves with unspeakable emotions at the thought of 
stuffing the ballot box with illegal votes. (Laughter.) He, too, is igrorant of 
the law that could have been employed on Friday last, to arrest, convict, and 



punish the conspirators, and in despair he hastens to transmit the evidence to 
United States District Attorney Smith. The evidence that was "positive proof" 
in the hands of Mann, Collis & Co. on Friday became questionable in the hands of 
of Stokeley on Saturday, and he informs United States Attorney Smith : " 1 hope 
to be able to furnish you, in a day or two,'' the names, etc., of the guilty parties 
whose movements he has, as he says, "closely watched." 

A day or two is very indefinite — most likely in this case it would carry Mr . 
Stokley over the election, and then what ? I would not intimate such a thing 
myself, but there are obstinate men who will insist that Mr. Stokley is not par- 
ticularly desirable that this evidence should get out until after the election, 
(cheers), and then everybody knows that it won't come out for the good reason 
that there never was any to come out. If there is such "positive proof" against 
anybody it must be against me, and I beg Mayor Stokley not to wait a day or two, 
but to bring it out now. Instead of doing so, he bombards me with harmless 
letters to all sorts of officials, when he should arrest me at once, if he has evidence 
to warrant it. (Cheers.) But Mann hands the "positive proof" over to Stokley, 
Stokley transmits it to United States Attorney Smith, and then innocently 
announces that "as these contemplated frauds have been concocted here, I intend 
to lay the communication before the District Attorney of the county." And. who 
is the District Attorney of the county? Colonel Mann, (laughter), who had just 
prepared the communication and handed it to Stokley. But Stokley don't hand it 
back to Mann ; he only declares his intention to do so; but he forgets to say just 
when he will do it. I beg to suggest to him that if he has evidence of intended 
election frauds, might it not be just as well to lock the stable door before the horse 
is stolen ? (Laughter.) If I am conspiring to commit election frauds, would not 
the interests of public justice be rather better served by arresting both me and the 
frauds before the election than afterwards ? (Applause.) 

It will inspire our citizens with confidence in their authorities to find their 
Chief Magistrate so prompt to denounce fraud. He wants only a day or two for 
the investigation of evidence that is certified to him as " positive proof," and some 
time, probably when the swallows homeward fly (laughter), he intends to notify 
the District Attorney that he should take notice of what the District Attorney had 
just asked the Mayor to take notice of. He is furnished with a letter to the United 
States District Attorney, and he signs it. He is furnished with a telegram to 
Judge McKennan, and he signs it. It is transmitted, and Judge McKennan hon- 
estly supposing that these men really mean something more than to hide their 
frauds behind the smoke of their blank cartridges fired at me, starts post haste for 
Philadelphia. He will be here Monday, the day before the election — too late to 
make such investigation as will expose their falsehoods until after the people 
hpve voted. Somebody must be arrested Monday, or some others must stand 
self-convicted as falsifiers. I beg to say that I am ready for my part of the 

I want them to open the way for judicial inquiry into election frauds in 
Philadelphia. I want them to start the cloud that may become a tempest and a 
deluge. I want every man who is guilty of polluting the ballot honestly convicted 
and justly punished, and I implore the accusers in this instance to fulfill their 
promise. They know that I am guiltless. I have been associated with some of 
the m«n who signed the address for years in political operations — with one of 
them most intimately. Col. Mann was on the confidential committee when I con- 
ducted the Lincoln campaign in 1860. He knows that I never proposed, ap- 
proved, or in any way aided or abetted an election fraud in this city. (Applause.) 
He knows that in 1860, when a fraud was perpetrated here by my political 
friends to return a Republican elected to Congress, I denounced it, and certified 
to Republican Congressmen that the return was dishonest. He knows that I have 
protested against the registry law from the date of its enactment, because it was 
a deliberate appeal from the intelligence and patriotism of the people to system- 
atic fraud to mainta'a Republican supremacy. (Applause.) He knows that 
in every party council on the subject, here and in Harrisburg, I plead for honest 
laws to enforce good nominations, and honest popular support of the Republican 
organization. He knows that if I have oflTended against the laws I need not be 
tracked or guarded against escape ; that officers need not hunt for me ; that a 



8 

request in any form from him will at any time bring me within the jurisdiction of 
his court, or of any other court, to answer the accusations made against me. 

And there is not one whose name is to the address, nor is there any man 
living, who can say that I ever advised or aided in the pollution of the ballot- 
box. They know that on this issue we separated, for systematic fraud made a 
Republican control that I could not and would not support. (Cheers and ap- 
plause.) I therefore challenged them, one and all, not to trifle with a profoundly 
moved public sentiment, but let us have justice and punishment. If the stroke 
falls on me, I am ready for it; if upon them, they should not complain. They 
know, as I know, that the punishment of those who are guilty of election frauds 
in this city, would bring chaos upon Philadelphia, for we would be without a 
ruler and almost without public officers. (Cheers and applause.) The Row would 
be like some banquet hall deserted, (laughter), for there would not be one left to 
tell the story of retribution. The court would sit, but without officers to record 
its decrees or to enforce its judgment. 

The Council halls would be the home of solitude, (laughter), and the tax-gath- 
erers and financial receivers would be in just the position to give the next candi- 
date for Governor a good certificate of character. (Shouts of laughter.) Phila- 
delphia would be almost voiceless in the popular branch of the Legislature, for 
the merry song of the "rooster" would be subdued and chastened by prison bars. 
(Cheers.) I beg my accusers to join me in a field-day hunt after ballot-box 
stuffers, repeaters, rounders and forgers of returns, and let us have justice, even 
though it should make official desolation in our city. Let this mockery cease ; it 
deceives nobody, intimidates nobody. Law is for crime— not to be bound in 
leading strings by men who have usurped its high prerogatives. Let the accusers 
now come to the front, and let justice be done though the heavens fall ! (Pro- 
longed applause.) 



LIFE: 



THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL. 



Annual Address, 



DELIVERKD BY 



Hon. a. K. McClure, 



Befoi\e the Literary ^ocieties 



or 



Washington and Jefferson College, 



AUGUST 3d, 1870. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

W. B SELIIKIMER, PKIXTElt, N. W. CORNER FIFTH AXD CHESTNUT STREETS. 

1870. 



77j I > ] I y 



W W www * W W - 





LIFE: 



THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL. 



Annual Address, 



DELIVERED BY 



Hon. a. K. McClure, 



j^EFoi^E THE Literary Societies 



OF 



Washington and Jefferson College, 



AUGUST 3d, 1870. 






^^e^- 



'^ 



T^IFE: 



THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL 






Gentlemen of the Literary Societies: 

I have heard it said, that of all hearers college students are 
the most critical; and I believe it is true that of all classes 
they are the most pitilessly criticised. I have no Alma Mater 
to worship, and I do not come to tell you how much wiser and 
better is mature manhood than youth. Let us rather be mutu- 
ally generous, for the greatest miracle to man is man. 

It is but too common to make college commencements seasons 
of humiliation to students. Speakers often come to repress 
your inspirations, to cloud or dissipate your dreams, and to 
picture to you a life that has no actual type amongst mortals. 
They bring the uneasy dreams of the closet to crush the 
buoyant, blissful dreams of boyhood, and to erect a standard 
of perfection that weak humanity has never approached. 
They mercilessly portray youthful follies, as if there had never 
been boys or follies before; and declare that you must become 
different from all that you are or have been. Fine theories of 
life, sustained by apparently irresistible logic, demand of you 
new departures, new ideas, new purposes and new actions, as 
you assume the new and responsible duties of the transformed 
existence that is set before you; and almost impassable gulfs 
are pictured as opposing your advancement to the full stature 
of useful manhood. 

. oO 




--^50) 



OSN. 



You have often heard of the perfect man. He has been the 
theme of many eloquent orations to students, but unfortunately 
he has never lived. You have been gravely told of the many 
obstacles to be overcome, to effect successfully the transition 
from student-life to perfect man-life. The obstacles have 
never been exaggerated; but it is equally true that your 
teachers, faultless and reverend as they may seem, have never 
mastered them, and never will. All the forgotten and unfor- 
gotten millions of the past were allied to frailty from their 
birth; so of all the great, progressive present; and so it will 
be of all the countless throngs yet to follow us. All have 
been, are, or will be, what those here to-day are — from your 
honored President to the feeblest freshman — but children of a 
varied growth. 

I come not to complain of your dream-life. When you go 
hence to begin the battle of the world, it must go with you. I 
know how vou would blush to own the ideal achievements with 
which it brightens your lives, and how pedantic orators affect 
to despise it. But let me assure you that it is a part of every 
life — of childhood, of manhood, of ripened years, of withered 
age; and it is life's crowning mercy to them all. The unlet- 
tered heathen bows before its altar, and the most learned are 
its worshippers. It is the perpetual sunshine of youth. It is 
the softened bow of promise that ever appears as the wild 
dreams of youth have vanished; and when childhood kindly 
comes again to lead the tottering frame gently to the shore, it 
is an unfailing well-spring of happiness. When the ideal 
ceases to be worshipped, life ceases to be tolerable. We read 
each day the sad story of those from whom hope has fled. 
Their ideal life was ended — that is all. Their actual life, 
brought face to face with sin or disappointment — and no angel- 
dream of a better day — could not be borne; and they passed 
from amongst us. 

I shall disturb your college dreams somewhat, but it is best 
that I should. It will be but a passing cloud, and you will 
welcome your dreams again. I would not have you cherish 



i 

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? 



the ideal any less, but remember that the Actual will at times 
confront you, and dissipate your fondest hopes. Such is the 
story of every life, and it must be yours. Most of you hope, 
sooner or later, to be enrolled in the Alumni of the colleo-e. 
It is a sweet word to lisp, for it marks an important epoch in 
each individual history. You will go forth into the world with 
every avenue to usefulness and distinction open to you. Life 
will seem long and bright before you. Its prizes will glitter 
in your dreams. Its ideal flowers will bloom along your ideal 
pathways. Fame will point to the multitude of names engraven 
indelibly upon her scroll, and beckon you onAvard. Illustrious 
deeds, which are household words, will challenge imitation. 
Future Executives, Senators and Commoners must take the 
places of the present great representative men, and the world 
must have its line of heroes unbroken. This is the field the 
Ideal brings before you. It is yours to explore. Go gather 
its laurels, and make new names immortal. 

But, ere you start, pause with me for a moment. The weary 
traveler in the waste of the burning desert, parched by thirst, 
is often gladdened by beholding what seems to be a clear, blue 
lake of water in the distance. Its banks are studded with 
greenest verdure, in delightful contrast with the arid plain 
about him; and its surface broken by refreshing life and 
beauty. Wild flowers, decked in Nature's most gorgeous hues, 
fringe its inviting shores. The scene breaks upon the despair- 
ing wanderer like some enchantment. Cool shades, fresh 
waters and fragrant blossoms seem to be but a little in advance 
of him, and within his reach. His dying courage revives. 
Hope springs up afresh and re-animates him. Strength takes 
the place of weakness; his step is quickened, and he presses 
onward to grasp the priceless boon. He knows that it may be 
the mirage of the desert — that it may be a cruel delusion, 
mocking him in his misery — that it may ever recede from him 
as he advances, until finally it takes the wings of solitude and 
leaves him to despair and death, [t may be but the reflected 
beauties of some far-off", unattainable blessing; but Hope reigns 



5€^- 





Os^ 



6 

in the sweet delusion, and it is joyously welcomed. It may, 
by the superhuman energy it inspires, carry the dreamer safely 
across the weird and trackless valley, or it may but lengthen 
a little the little span of life. 

The mirage of life is ever around us all. It paints the 
bright prospective that crowds before you. It is the happy 
creation of the ideal ; the unfailing source of hopeful effort, 
and blissful dreams of bountiful rewards. There is no fountain 
of happiness it cannot make to flow to quicken you. There is 
no measure of success or distinction it cannot present as at- 
tainable. What you most wish, it freely offers you, and presses 
you onward to grasp it. And you will go onward, ever hoping, 
ever striving, ever dreaming, until, in the calm evening of your 
dreams, hope will gently point to the better life beyond. 

Think not that the ideal life is to be shunned as a delusion 
and a snare. Delusive it may be in its promises you cherish 
most; but it will nevertheless be the parent of your sweetest 
hours. It will lead you to your noblest and best endeavors. 
It will arm you for the incalculable disappointments and sor- 
rows which beset the most successful lives; for no life escapes 
the common inheritance of grief. In each "some rain must 
fall;" and those most envied must point to pathways strewn 
with blasted hopes. Were I empowered to paint your lives 
before you as they will be, not one of all those present could 
face the picture, and go hence to battle hopefully. Could I 
even tell you that you will win high attainments in usefulness 
and honors; that your lives will be free from marked affliction 
and adversity, and that the world will wonder at the fullness 
of your cups of human happiness, the faithful picture would 
be none the less unwelcome. Could I reach out into the cur- 
tained future, and present before you the wisely hidden pano- 
rama of your actual lives; dispel all your bright dreams never 
to be realized; banish the sunny Ideal from your destiny, and 
send you to face the known, inexorable Actual — even those of 
you to whom Fate has been most indulgent, would be stricken 
with despair. Infinite wisdom has given us the Ideal to be 





s^ 





ever present, as the angel of mercy ; and the Actual is shut 
out in the veiled hereafter, until the true life is reached in im- 
mortality. 

Look back on those who have gone before you, and who, as 
the world judges, have achieved greatness; what strange les- 
sons the inner history of human achievements teaches! We 
learn that "one Caesar lives, a thousand are forgot." Again, 
we see Fame cruelly mocking her chosen favorites, and painful 
wrecks marking the path of distinction. Look how wearily 
and laboriously names have been made memorable. Dream as 
you will, none are born to greatness. They may inherit 
crowns and titles and estates, but true greatness is not the 
birthright of any one. The Ideal tells us pleasing stories of 
such destinies, but they are unknown in the stubborn Actual. 
Those who have become great, have found life well nigh too 
short to achieve it. 

We have all read and re-read "Gray's Elegy." Its sub- 
limity has made us dwell upon each line to gather the fullness 
of its beauty. It made one name immortal; but think what 
long months and years of ceaseless thought were devoted to 
the work. To mould a single line was at times the task of 
restless nights and weary days. Decades were numbered be- 
tween its inception and completion — seven years elapsed after 
its actual commencement, before it was finished; and when 
finished, the ideal creation of the author was not realized. He 
wrote much more, but what of it is remembered? The bitter 
school of adversity gave to the world the Goldsmith we know. 
His "Deserted Village" is the dream-picture of a happiness 
he had never found. More than two score years of grim 
penury and consuming disappointment made those immortal 
verses. Milton's "Paradise Lost" was the patient work of 
half a century. We are told of him that never was a mind 
more richly furnished, but life was too brief for more than one 
master-piece. He had sorrow enough — the poet's fruitful in- 
spiration — and wrote much that was beautiful; but the world 





8 

speaks of him only as the author of one poem. He dreamed 
of a "Paradise Regained" — nothing more. 

But it may be answered that poetry is the child of bitter 
memories and cruel misfortunes. Lives may be brighter in 
the list of names memorable in Oratory and Statesmanship and 
Heroism and Literature and Science. The ideal orator reads of 
Demosthenes — how his voice was tuneless, his speech unready, 
and his action ungraceful. He took the pebble to educate a 
clumsy tongue — he declaimed to the billows of the sea — prac- 
ticed with actors and before mirrors — and climbed rugged hills 
to fit himself for a calling that nature seemed to have forbidden 
to him. Cicero Avas schooled from youth to oratory. Training 
in Rome and Greece, in those days, implied a measure of 
assiduity to which our students now are strangers. He was 
twenty-six before he began to speak in public, and thenceforth 
his labors never were relaxed. Brougham was the soul of 
eloquence. His career as an advocate w^as unrivaled in his 
day. You will call him heaven-gifted. Perhaps he was, but 
not one in a thousand could accept his labors for his fame. 
The orators of Greece were the great lesson of his life. When 
he defended Queen Caroline, he devoted months to special 
study, and wrote the peroration of his speech more than twenty 
times. Walpole was the veriest galley-slave. His ambition 
and jealousy denied him repose. Power was his god, and 
anxious, devouring effort made him great — not so great, per- 
haps, as successful — and yet who can call his life successful? 
Pulteney, one of the most effective of British orators, deve- 
loped his rhetorical powers slowly; but unwearying efforts 
enabled him to climb to eminence. The elder Pitt was an 
educated orator. He devoted himself to the severest course 
of training. Demosthenes was his model, and he reveled in 
translations from the ancient..^. Ho studied everything per- 
taining to oratory — indeed, his whole life was but one hard 
lesson to master eloquence. The younger Pitt walked closely 
in his father's footsteps. His college life was "one long 
disease" from ceaseless application. We are told that his 





1 



9 ^ 

efforts knew no limits but the weakness of his frame. Many 
years were given to the classics, mathematics, and the logic of 
Aristotle, to conquer the art of eloquence. He made himself 
one of the first orators of England — and a confirmed invalid. 
Mansfield studied everything that had been written on oratory. 
While at Oxford he translated all of Cicero's orations into 
English, and then re-translated them into Latin. Burke 
devoted every waking moment to mental labor. He studied 
to acquire the pov/er of thinking at all times and in every 
place. He tried to solve the realization of his ideal life. The 
incessant struggle of thought made him weary at forty-five, 
and he resolved to be content with his achievements; but the 
misery of idleness soon made him decide to grow old in learn- 
incr. Grattan was an eager listener under Chatham, and with 
him everything was forgotten in the one great purpose of 
mastering oratory. Fox owned to but one ruling ambition — 
that of making himself a powerful debater — and he rose by 
slow degrees until the world acknowledged himself successful. 
Severe method and labor were parts of Clay's existence. 
Throughout his long and eventful life, even to his latest days, 
his great speeches were prepared with scrupulous care. 
Although for a quarter of a century a recognized candidate 
for the Presidency, with exacting public duties, his speeches 
never were delivered without the most mature reflection and 
systematic preparation. Few ever knew how every hour of 
his life was given to labor. Webster was born greater than 
are most men, but he attained distinction slowly and labori- 
ously. When a student, he was for a long time unequal to 
declamation before his class, even when he had his part well 
committed. At twenty-five, we read that he was giving 
assiduous devotion to his profession, though it afforded him 
but a frugal livehhood. At thirty-two, he entered Congress 
unknown to fame, but his life had been one of restless mental 
industry, and he left the House with a wide-spread reputation 
for statesmanship. Thenceforth his life continued one of 
constant labor, and so it was to the end. His reply to Hayne 

(^X^ __ . — 




r" -^ 

' 10 ] 

was not prepared, but its immortal sentences were the creation 
of a life-time of mighty thought. Calhoun's unremitted study 
gave him the honors of his class, but with his health so broken 
that he could not crown them with the oration; and his whole 
life was one of ceaseless intellectual toil. Each day he was as 
much the student as the statesman. 

But why multiply names? If I were to weary you with 
the whole list of ancient and modern orators and statesmen, 
the same history must be given of all. Variously as nature 
endowed them, they achieved greatness by patient, persevering 
effort, that ended only with their lives. Dream of greatness, 
but understand that it is a rugged, thorny path: but dream 
on, and deck the thorns with bright and fragrant roses, and 
journey to the end. 

How brightly the ideal portrays the triumphs of statesman- 
ship. How the student's heart quickens as he reads of the 
giants who have swayed Senates and nations, and who have 
left enduring monuments of greatness in their political achieve- 
ments. They tower above their fellows on the pages of 
history, as if they had been created unlike other men. But 
History is forgetful of their infirmities, and their great deeds 
and their virtues alone survive them. They all have dreamed, 
and vainly dreamed, as have the humblest of their followers. 
They hoped, attained, and suffered more, and there the dis- 
tinction ends. I speak of Henry Clay with reverence. He 
was the idol of my boyhood, and his name is linked with the 
grateful memories of the season when we invest orreatness with 
the perfection of human attributes. He was beloved, even 
idolized, by his partisans. It would seem as if he had been 
born to test the measure of affection that could be lavished 
upon a popular leader by a free people. Others have been 
esteemed; have aroused a nation's gratitude; have commanded 
the sober approval of the country, or have been borne upward j 
upon sweeping tides ; but who, fallen and powerless, was followed 
to the close of his eventful life with such sincere and profound 
affection ? He was great in all the great qualities of man, and 





11 



"^ 



yet he was but a child of larger stature. You will read of his 
victories — of his life, that seemed to be but one continued ova- 
tion — of his matchless eloquence in behalf of human liberty in 
every clime, and of his heroic pacification of our sectional 
estrangements. He was honored with every official trust, save 
the one he most desired. His ideal achievement was to be 
chosen ruler of the people who loved him. It was the sweet 
dream of half his allotted days. It seemed ever just within 
his reach, and yet was ever lost. Twice in his riper life his 
principles triumphed in national contests ; but others were made 
his leaders, and wore the wreaths his skill and statesmanship 
had woven for his party. Never was a life so full of hope; 
never was the Ideal so rich in promise; and never were disap- 
pointments more filled with bitterness. When you have read 
of his brilliant career, turn to the sad sequel in Colton's compi- 
lation of his private correspondence, and the bright picture is 
blotted out in the painful realization of a great life with its 
great ideal destiny overthrown. 

Another name is immortal in the nation's pride, and shared 
its affections. Webster was our profoundest statesman a score 
of years before his death. He crushed out a gigantic crime by 
a single appeal to the Senate. It will be enduring as Time in 
the annals of rhetorical victories. He, too, was Commoner, 
Senator, and Premier; but he was not what he most ardently 
hoped to be. His ideal destiny was plainly written in his later 
days, and his life went out in harrowing disappointment. He 
had defeated Hayne and the threatened dismemberment of the 
Union, and the whole world confessed the pre-eminence of his 
fame. He had answered Hulsemann in behalf of the rights of 
man, and thrones trembled; but he was not President. His 
dreams ended, and in a few fretful days he slept with his fathers. 
Calhoun was distinctively a representative man. He was sin- 
cere, profound, subtle, and was worshipped by his adherents. 
He had reached the chair next the throne, and he had but one 
step more to realize his single ambition; but he faltered as the 
chasm widened: he dreamed of ruling over fragments of a dis- 

3^^ ■ — 




g^ -v) 

? 12 ^ 

severed country, and, in grand and gloomy perseverance, he 
labored until the shadows gathered into night. Winfield Scott 
was the chieftain of his age. The hero of two wars, he had 
reached the topmost round of military glory. The impetuous 
victor of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane perhaps dreamed only 
of tAvin stars, but the Commander-in-Chief and the Conqueror 
of Mexico accepted a higher ideal destiny. The stars paled 
when they were won, before one bright dream that to him was 
colossal in its freight of mingled joy and sorrow. At last, 
after many days of sickening hope deferred, a subordinate 
swept over him like the simoon of the desert. If you would 
know how much a child a man may be, summon your generous 
forbearance and read Scott's autobiography, where ho tells why 
he was not President. One great hope, one great infirmity, 
and one great grief, sum up the sequel of his great distinc- 
tion. 

"My life has been a failure," were the sad words I heard 
uttered by Thaddeus Stevens, when he was setting his house in 
order for the inexorable messenger. He was the great Com- 
moner of the nation's sorest trial, and had witnessed the triumph 
of his earnest and consistent efforts for the disenthralment of 
the oppressed. He was content when braving popular igno- 
rance and prejudice againsi: education and freedom; but when 
he became the acknowledged leader of the House, and saw the 
substantial success of his cherished principles, his ideal life 
was not fulfilled. To himself his life appeared as does the 
statue fashioned to rest upon some high pinnacle. It seemed 
ungainly, ill-proportioned and wanting in symmetry and har- 
mony; but as it rises to the distance from which it was designed 
to be viewed, its awkward, shapeless lines disappear, and its 
grace and beauty win the admiring gaze of the multitude. He 
had his measure of infirmities, but there have been few so sin- 
cerely devoted to their convictions, and who would so willingly 
forego honors and applause for conscience sake. When poste- 
rity shall read of him, it will be as one of the grand central 
figures in the panorama of a nation's redemption, and his 





g^ ^ 

[ 13 ^ 

frailties will be unrecorded — the common tribute the historian 
pays to the fallibility of men whose names are immortal. I 
thought that he, of all our statesmen, had most nearly realized 
the hopes which inspired his noblest efforts ; but he had learned 
the lesson that the ideal destiny of every life points to the 
unattainable. How much he dreamed, and how keenly he 
lamented that he only dreamed, there are few prepared to 
tell. 
j Look out over the countless throng that have dreamed, and 
j are still dreaming, of the Presidency. The time was when 
only the wisest statesman looked to the chair of Washington 
in their ideal achievements, but now, who that worships at the 
altar of ambition can plead exemption? Not sages and heroes 
alone now turn their anxious hopes toward the mighty sceptre 
of the first people of the world. Pretenders of every grade, 
who have climbed into position through slimy paths, swell their 
shame by indecent struggles to rule in dishonor. Their Ideal 
' is success, and I would not say how many bow before that 
i fickle divinity. A few of them win in their mean struggles, 
j only to find their stolen honors turn to burning ashes on their 
I brows. The broad path to the highest trust of the Republic is 
thickly strewn with skeletons of riven castles, and yet the 
i throng that presses over them to the same sad destiny, is count- 
I less as before. This one dream has unsettled the best and 
bravest men, and is the parent of strange misfortune. It has 
' made strong men weak, and estranged mighty leaders from the 
! very devotion they most sought; and it has made the Union 
the prey of the tempest to gratify mad ambition. It invented 
' the spoliation of Mexico; it destroyed the Missouri Compro- 
mise; it fashioned the Dred Scott decision; it enacted the 
Fugitive Slave Law ; it consigned the Whig party to a dishonored 
1 tomb ; it made the Democratic party forget its cunning, and 
sacrifice its power; it made men in every section, and of every 
! shade of sentiment, traitors to themselves, to truth and to their 
country ; it bombarded Sumpter ; it prolonged the bloody strife 
to destroy our nationality; and after the storm of battle ceased. 





^ 



14 

it came with horrible discord to lacerate the ghastly scars of 
war. 

Do you answer that there are those whose attainments fulfill 
their dreams? Turn to the names least linked with disappoint- 
ment in visible aspirations, and learn how the sweet Ideal 
vanishes before the gnawing tooth of the actual. Buchanan's 
dream was the Presidency. Long he hoped and patiently 
waited through various discomfitures, until at last the fruition 
came. The nation never loved him, but it freely gave him its 
trusts and its honors. He was able, experienced, personally 
blameless, and honest in his purposes. The world envied him 
the felicity of realizing, in its fullness, his dream of power; 
but his triumph only dated the culmination of his woes. He 
may or may not have ruled wisely, but his reign was one broad, 
angry sea of disappointment. He passed the threshold of 
power amidst the hozannas of those who worship the rising 
sun, and was greeted with the sober confidence of honest men. 
He returned in a few brief years with his brow more rudely 
furrowed, with the life of earthly hope gone out, and his gar- 
lands withered before the fierce breath of his country's dis- 
pleasure. Lincoln dreamed the same dream. Unschooled in 
political management, he was made the choice of a party that 
confessed another as its leader. The inscrutable power that 
sets at naught the wisdom of men, made the Ideal seem to open 
its richest garnered wealth to bless him. You hear how mer- 
rily he wore the cares of state, and the lovers of the marvelous 
tell how the ribald jest mingled with cabinet councils. Yet he 
was the purest, the sincerest and the saddest of men. He 
reached the Executive chair only to learn that his dream of 
happiness pointed far beyond, through deep tribulation and 
the tempest and flame of battle. The strange unrest, that ever 
springs from fruitful hope, was made deeper and keener for 
him by the devouring care he could not escape. But in the 
midst of the anxious labors and sacrifices he had won, in the 
name of honor, he dreamed the one bright dream of a reunited 
people. "I would like to be the acknowledged President of 

O^N . 





^ _„^ 

the whole Union before I retire," was the quaint but earnest 
utterance he made when he was awkwardly seeking to shape 
political action to prolong his power, that he might com- 
plete his work. He had the profoundest faith in the cause of 
his country, but he feared his own overthrow, with nothing but 
the record of war's desolation to mark his rule, and he knew 
not how devotedly and justly he was loved and trusted by the 
people. And when his grand Ideal seemed to reach fruition. 
Peace came only to mock him with the fiendish legacies of civil 
strife. Still, far beyond, more dimly distant than before, it 
pictured its haven of contentment. He died just when his 
name could be recorded as most sublimely immortal; and his 
history is but the simple, repeated and ever-repeating story, 
that the Ideal, fruitful as it is of fitful blessings, has no ripened 
harvest for mortals to gather. Peirce was President. He 
plucked the green laurels from the veteran Scott, and men 
judged that his ideal life was realized. Not so, however, for 
he came bereaved in his affections, to reign in sickening tur- 
moil, and he saw discontent and strife spring up to mock him 
in the records he sought to write. Discarded in the name of 
Peace, he retired and lived unfelt and unworshipped, and died 
without touching the nation's sorrow. Taylor was borne into 
the Presidency by the tidal wave that avenged Mexico. He 
dreamed, as do other men, that power is happiness; but, like 
the eagle caged in bars of polished gold, he fretted his life 
away. Fillmore found the dazzling cup of his ambition full, 
but it turned to bitterness as he drank the coveted draught. 
He surrendered power amidst public convulsions and personal 
discomfiture, and faded from the affections, and well nigh from 
the memories, of the people. He spoke recently, and like sor- 
rowing Rip Van Winkle, after the throes of revolution had 
whirled the world a generation past him, he discussed the 
problems of twenty years ago. The ever-faithful Ideal still 
sweetens his isolation, and shields him from himself. John- 
son's ideal destiny was the theme of his tireless speech. He 
reached the throne through the flood-tide of a nation's tears, 

^ 



9^^ 





16 

and in his rule he rode upon the storm. He was nothing if 
not tempestuous. He sowed to the wind, and reaped bountifully 
of the whirlwind. In hopeless strife he fought out his power, 
and went home amidst public rejoicing. And so the chapter 
might be continued through all the struggles and ti-iumphs of 
men — through all the honors, crowns and titles lost and won. 

Look at the group of heroes that adorns the early histories 
of our late war. Not one of the faces there engraven on 
finest lines of steel for an admiring people, appears in the 
later group that is to be found near to the chapter on Appo- 
mattox. How stars brightened only to fade in popular distrust 
or reprobation ! An obscure tradesman stubbornly carved his 
way from Donaldson, Shiloh, and Missionary Ridge — through 
meanest and mightiest malice — to the head of the army. 
Thenceforth, the nation trusted not in vain. He returned 
from his crimsoned battle-fields with Victory and Peace, and 
the saved Republic, in mingled wisdom and gratitude, made 
its great Warrior its great Pacificator. Another untried ofiicer, 
subordinated by the War Department as of unbalanced mind, 
dazzled the world with the daring and success of his matchless 
genius, and is now General-in-chief; and a name unknown 
until wreathed in unfading laurels by his gallant troopers in 
the Valley, is second in command. These have been successful, 
it may be, far beyond their early dreams; but think not that 
they can claim exemption from the rude tempests which ever 
break in fiercest fury upon the towering monarchs of the 
forest. Alexander conquered the world — his great ideal des- 
tiny was achieved — and he thrust the empty bauble away, with 
his own life, as his subordinates wrangled for his crown. 
Napoleon dreamed of Empire and happiness. He humbled 
every flag that confronted him, to die at last on an inhospitable 
isle of the sea, without sceptre, home or country. "Every- 
thing that I love; everything that belongs to me, is stricken," 
were the sad words with which he summed up his destiny. 
Demosthenes became the great orator of Greece; but the 
bright ideal of his early manhood was dissipated, as the people 



L 



I " I 

that once honored him drove him into a stran2;e hind. In tlie 
Temple of Neptune he mixed the fatal poison that promised 
him rest. Cicero was hailed by Cato as the Father of his 
Country, and public thanksgivings in his name were voted to 
the Gods. Soon after he was banished, an alien and a wan- 
derer, until he bowed his head to the sword of Antony. Pitt 
was Prime Minister at twenty-four; but Austerlitz came, and 
the gold was dimmed, and the bowl was broken. Disraeli's 
grand ideal Avas attained when he became Premier; but if you 
I would learn how empty was the realization, read the marvelous 
aphorisms of "Lothair." "One's life changes in a moment," 
is the trite history of human hopes he gives in one chapter; 
and he tells what success is, when he says. that "the feeling of 
satiety, almost inseparable from large possessions, is a surer 
cause of misery than ungratified desires." How Walter Scott 
dreamed, and how the honors and riches of the world clustered 
around him, but at last he wrote: "The best is, the long halt 
will arrive at length, and close all." Campbell, in the dream 
of youtli, gave us "The Pleasures of Hope," and how happily 
his exquisite lines accord with the Ideal life; but he toiled 
through his allotted years to tell "how hopes are blighted," 
and that fame is a "bubble that must soon burst." How 
sweetly jjnd sadly have Young and Burns and Moore and Mrs. 
Ilemans sung; and with what bitterness of soul did the per- 
verted genius of Byron write — 

"And know, whatever thou hast been, 
Ti? something' better not to be." 

Cast your eyes across to uneasy Europe. Her unstable map 
seems about to be recast in deep lines of blood. Whose of all 
the countless dreams of ambition, which plunge sulijects into 
war, are to be realized in hollow grandeur? The tottering 
Man of France forged his crown in perjury and usurpation. 
His dream seemed to be realized when he became Emperor; 
but the Ideal pictured an enlarged and invincible France, and 
I a perpetual Napoleonic dynasty, tis his work. Fretful dreams 

C%- -•- nO 





18 

of a strange succession have studded this throne with thorns, 
and he wickedly breaks the peace of the Old World. King 
William, impiously claiming to rule in harshest despotism, by 
Divine Right, accepts the challenge, and a million reapers are 
hurrying to the harvest of death. All Europe is appalled, 
for none can measure the limits the sword shall set for its 
cruel arbitrament. Russia will dream of Constantinople; 
Italy of Rome; France of Belgium ; Prussia of a strengthened 
Confederation; Hungary and Poland of deliverance; England 
of enlarged power in the councils of nations; Austria of 
restored prestige and position; and Spain of rest and peace. 
And when the shock shall be over, and Empire shall be lost 
and gained, victor and vanquished will realize how vainly they 
have struggled for the impossible. 

The Ideal is unbounded in its kind ministrations. The child 
looks upon the beautiful rainbow as an actual arch of tinted 
substance, resting upon the hills close by. It vanishes, and 
the dream is gone, and the scalding tears of the httle dreamer 
may be gathered up to fashion the next sweet delusion that 
fringes the tempest. Through every condition of human life; 
through all the strange mutations of every destiny; from the 
most opulent to the most humble, and from the most sacred to 
the most profane, the Ideal is an attendant angel of mercy. It 
ever aims to bring our poor lives into harmony Avith some 
better being, and when our groveling ambition, or unworthy 
purposes, ripen into misfortune, it whispers its bright promises, 
and we feel "wealthiest when most undone." It tarries with 
us in the deep valley of humiliation we all must tread, paints 
the silver lining to the cloud, and tempers the rude storms 
which fling their hoarse melodies around us. It brought its 
rich store of happiness, as the hand-maid of the firm faith that 
enabled Abraham to sojourn "in the land of promise as in a 
strange country," and that was the sure stay and comfort of 
the Hebrew saints, who "all died in faith, not having received 
the promise." 

It pervades all the manifold theories of sacred things 

3€^ ^ ^/j 





19 

fashioned by man. Look at our subtle creeds — they are but the 
dreams of earnest Christian men, who mingle their frail judg- 
ments with the Divine teachings. They tell us widely different 
stories of the Creation, of the Fall, of the Atonement, of the 
Resurrection, and of the unexplored Eternity beyond. Each 
dreams blissfully of his sacred dogmas. We are taught how 
a fallen world must be saved by man's interpretation of Elec- 
tion, or of Free Agency, or of Baptism, or of an unknown 
Trinity. Any or all of these may be deeply mingled with the 
errors of men, but the Christian Church has still fov its impreg- 
nable foundation every fundamental principle of the Christian 
Reljo-ion. All teach from a common Bible, and all accept the 
same Salvation, but each ideal points to a different path, and in 
our feebleness we close the gates of God's truth againt those 
who differ from us. There is no range of prophecy or revela- 
tion it has not invited the Christian to explore, and, when 
explored, avc find that it is but the restless, throbbing, fruitless 
search for the unattainable. Volumes have been written, after 
years of patient research, to mark the past, present and future 
fulfillment of Prophecy, to master Revelation, and to open the 
very Seals of the fullness of Time. They are but romances; 
the ideal struggles of the frail finite mind to comprehend the 
Infinite. All that man can know of the Creator and His sal- 
vation, is made so plain that the wayfarer cannot err therein. 
The Ideal may turn back through all the recorded and the 
unrecorded past, and look out through all the boundless future, 
to paint the harmony that delights our brief prison life; but 
when man seeks to comprehend God and His prophecies, and 
His purposes, and His rewards and punishments, he rushes 
where angels do not tread. I have never read "Paine's 
Aire of Reason," but I can understand how such a crime 
was possible. Had he entitled it the "Age of Human Reason," 
it would have been a faultless reflex of its name. He 
' impiously assumed to reason upon equality with God; not 
; understanding God, he could do no more than reject the Infi- 
I nite. As well bid the prattling infant measure the millions of 

O5V. _____ ■ 




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20 




stars above us, and define their courses and seasons, as ask the 
creature, born to fallibility even in earthly things, to define 
the purposes and attributes of Jehovah. Behold mankind as 
they are; scan intelligent creation from the degraded heathen, 
through all the stages of human progress to the most enlight- 
ened, and reason how such beings are to promote the glory of 
an infinite Creator, and you will be lost in unbelief. How it 
is, the Ideal may picture in varied and ever-pleasing fancy, but 
we cannot understand; yet it must be so, for so it is written 
where every line shall be fulfilled. Our little ray of reason, 
tottering on its narrow throne, will ever dream of the things 
which eye hath not seen and man cannot know, but our sense 
of sin and helplessness is the repeated realization of each 
fleeting day, and the learned and unlearned alike recognize the 
Infinite mercy that invites them to redemption by simple Faith 
and Repentance. What is beyond, poor mortals can only learn 
when the Actual comes with its deathless destiny. Of it, the 
Ideal whispers fond foretastes, but when we shall see it as it 
is, then, and not till then, shall it reach fruition. Here the 
Actual crosses our paths only to disturb our dreams, and dissi- 
pate our hopes. At times it comes like the fitful cloud that 
shadows the sunlight for a season, and then passes away ; and 
again, it sweeps like the hurricane with its terrible thunder- 
bolts breaking over our heads; but when we shall resign this 
feeble frame that frugal nature lent us for an hour, the "pain- 
ful birth of life unending" will bring us to the Actual Being, 
whose time shall be eternal, whose knowledge shall be perfect, 
and whose happiness or woe shall ever press toward fullness, 
and yet through all the ceaseless years of God be never full. 





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.1 



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;i Hon. A. K. McCLURE, 



1 > 






ANNUAL ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED BY 



BErORE THE LITERARY SOCIETIES 



LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, 

June 2oth, 1871. 



EVERY-DAY LIFE. : 



K 



PHILADELPHIA:. 

REVIEW PRINTING HOUSE, COU. WALNUT AND POUKTR STREETS. 

1871. 






I 



, 



I 



^s^s- 




EVERY-DAY LIFE 



ANNUAL ADDRESS, 



DELIVERKl) HY 



Hon. A. K. MeCLURE, 



BEPORE THE LITERAEY SOCIETIES 



LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, 

June 2oth, 1871. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

REVIKW PRINTING HOUSE, COIl. WALNUT AND FOUBTH STREKTS. 

1871. 




^ 






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EVERY-DAY LIFE. 



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GkNTI.KMEX (IF THE LiTERARY SOCIETIES: 

1 liave chosen a cominon, homely tlR-me — Kvcrv-dav r.ifc. 
Many of yon may hastily prouonnce it nnintcivsting and unin- 
structive. It is not set forth in your list of studies. ' It is not a 
favorite field for rhetoric. Most students ha1)itually overlook it; 
too many great teachers forget or ignore it. It does not mingle 
with the pleasing fancies which are busy weaving future gar- 
lands for the graduate. It may unsettle some delightful cas'tles 
reared in your moments of repose from weary labor; but it is 
the life we each and all must live. Let us look at it soberly, and 
cultivate it kindly, and it will rcAvard us with many cheering 
smiles and cliarming attributes. 

^Vhile our every-day life is the theme that should be most 
ffiniiliar to all, it is the one important part of education that is 
most neglected. You may here become what the world of letters 
calls a great scholar, and yet be to the world, and in the world, a 
novice. If successful, it will be an accident; if useful, it will be 
grudgingly acknowledged only after you are dead, if even then. 
Mere scholarship, in its relations to the great pui-poses of human 
life, is like an intricate machine in unskilful hands. While it will 
run itself, it is well; but wdien it wants direction its beauty and 
its mechanism go for nought. Our colleges and higher schools 
are of inestimable value, but they cannot do everything for the 
student. They can store the mind and fit the man for the cease- 
less lesson of life; but when they have done, the work of learning 
has but commenced. When you sliall have passed safelv thi-ou<-h 
your recitations and examinations, you are just fitted to enter the 
boundless school that is ever open around us. 



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The world itself is the master teacher of its countless pupils. 
It has no sessions or vacations. Its vast books are never closed. 
Its inillion-ton<fued voices are never silent. Its precepts and 
admonitions, its gentle suasions and vengeful mandates, throng 
upon us wherever we are. In its sources of instruction, aiming 
to make man each day better than before, it is as varied as the 
handi-work of God; and yet how many of all the living profit by 
these multiplied teachings as the}' swiftly pass? 

You have read, and doubtless often quoted, the truism, that 
"the proper study of maiddnd is man." It is the plain, broad 
channel of advancement, for the study of man involves the study 
of evcrvthins:. For him all things were created. All of the 
world's beauty is but a tribute to his excellence. All of its thorns 
and brambles are but chastening rods to make him mindful of the 
purpost^ of his being. The grandest themes of the painter and 
poet relate to his destiny. The pulpit is inspired by the story of 
his redemption. Senators and commoners win distinction only as 
they promote his happiness, and that heroism is enshrined over 
all that has achieved his amelioration. 

It is an imperative lesson to enable us to know something- of 
ourselves. Whether we would pay court to the fickle goddess 
of fame, or aspire to wealth, or to usefulness, or to the nearest 
possible perfection of human character, the one unending study is 
of Man. The supreme ])roblem that confronts the faithful student 
from day to day, and from year to year, ever revolves closely 
about himself, and yet it takes within its scope all of nature's infinite 
variety of ever-present and ever-changing text-books. Look out 
upon the world's tumultuous school. Each one so like his fellow, 
and all so unlike; yet each varied understanding is bountifully 
furnished with endless sources of culture. Did all pursue the 
same beaten path, the world would be monotonous, and most of 
its beauty and teachings would be lost. But no two have just the 
same aspirations, or garner the same harvest from the same field 
of thought, while the larger number go out and come in, from the 
cradle to the grave, and are insensible of the riches they have 
cast aside. The absorbed astronomer may explore the heavens 
when opportunity is presented, and then pass on through the world 
unconscious of its offerings. The geologist may delve* into the 
earth's recesses and rocks and forget the living in his search for the 



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records of the past. The scliobir of books performs only wliat 
some othor iiiiud bids him — all else is a sealed treasure ai-ound 
him. He could solve the most abstruse; ijroblem for the student, 
but would be confounded if asked to solve the i)rol)lem the student 
himself presented. Many righteous men teacii from the Holy 
Book, and teach in vain. They know only what tiiey teach, and 
not to whom they tea(di. Tiie thouohtless, plodding- .■-on of toil 
rejects all things save as necessity becomes his master. 'I'lius do 
the learned and unlearned jostle on, like truant children, discard- 
ing the best means of usefulness to their fellows, and dooming to 
pitiful thraldom the immortal element of our existence. 

H" I were to call upon the learned young men before me to tell 
of tile great epochs of human history, you would answer promptly 
and correctly. I could tell you nothing of the world's mutations 
that would be novel to vou. So much you have learned, or are 
learninn-, well. Do not understand me as assumino- that you 
should have h^arned more, for I have already told you that life is 
one unending lesson; and here, when all has been done that can 
l)e done, you are only fitted to begin the great study. I^et me 
kindly, and, I trust, pleasantly and profitably, lead you from tlie 
•stilted plane that youthful ambition builds, to look into the 
fountains which have given the world its varied eras. You have 
studicul its heroes, its sages, its patriots, its poets, its scholars, 
and its masters. I would now have you study the sources 
whence they came. 

The marked events of the world's history may always be traced 
to the every-day life of the peoples who were the chief actors 
therein. Vou would point to C;vsa,r or Alexander as the great 
hero of the ancients; Imt without Rome, just as she then was, 
what could C;iesar have been? and without Greece, trained as one 
vast military camp, Alexander might have been a slave instead of 
the conquerer of the world. Heroes are made and unmade, not 
by circumstances alone, but heroism must ever be the joint crea- 
tion of the nurn and of the occasion — -the people must find their 
true type with the particular elements of excellence which meet 
their supreme want. We speak thoughtlessly of great lead(!rs, 
forgetful that they are created, and that their followers have had 
much to do wdth their creation, llienzi deserved greater honors 
from Rome than ever did Caesar, yet the one was nsaster of Rome 



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when she was mistress of the world, and the other failed and fell 
iu'iiominiously, and is I'emembered only as the last of the Triliunes 
He was not overthrown by rivals, as was Csesar, when he fell at 
the foot of the statue of Ponipey. The boisterous fountains of 
ambition which made Brutus a murderer, gradually coursed like 
subtle poison tlirough the ranks of the people, and patrician and 
plebian alike were tainted and paralyzed. Cpesar had a party, 
and Antony a party, but Rome had none, and the sad sequel is 
told in the single sentence^ — "Rienzi fell from the vires of the 
people." At last a mere handful of l)anditti possessed the capital 
of the once proud empire, and her liberties were overthrown 
because her people had lost all their noblest atributes. 

Washington was perhaps the only man avIio could have won 
the independence of the colonies, and yet there were those in the 
revolutionary army no less brave, and much more brilliant. It 
was rare wisdom that called him to the chief command. Had 
Arnold commanded, he would have lived a patriot, fought despe- 
rately, and lost his cause. Between Washington and the people 
there was a common inspiration. They mutually led, mutually 
followed, mutually suffered, and nmtually triumphed. The desire 
for libert}^ became part of the every-day life, part of the every- 
day devotion, of the colonists; and the patriot hero became the 
Father of his Country. 

Let us for a moment transpose the two chief militar}' leaders of 
the early part of the present centur\'. Transfer Napoleon to 
Britain and Wellington to France. Could there have been a 
Marengo, or Austerlitz, or Waterloo? Had Napoleon been in the 
English army with all his fiery zeal, he would have been cashiered 
before he reached a colonel's commission; and had Wellington 
been under the eagles of France, he would have liA^ed and died a 
subaltern. But each in his own arm}- was a great captain, and 
each typified the people he so successfully commanded. The 
people of France created Napoleon ; the people of England made 
Arthur Wellesley Lord Wellington. " Soldiers ! from these monu- 
ments, forty centuries look down upon you," were the inspiring- 
words of Napoleon to his victorious arm}' in Egypt. "Eng- 
land expects every man to do his duty," was the strongest appeal 
that could be made to the British soldier. Napoleon would 
apostrophise the "sun of Austerlitz," and hurl his columns into 



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battle like the whirlwind; while Welliii.t>l(iii would silently, calmly 
and stubbornly maintain his position in presenee of defeat, and 
wait for Blueher. The people of these two powerful nations 
moulded their leaders, and throngji them moulded their own des- 
tinies. Had they been differently educated and inspired, they 
would have created other leaders, and the annals of their heroism 
would lun-e 1 11 no less glorious; but the names to which ambi- 
tion so proudly points would be unwritten therein. Napoleon 
(juickened and developed, but did not create, the everv-day life of 
the pco]de of France. The ripening fruit fell l)efore the fitting 
harvester, and since then France has obeyed, but never loved, 
another name. Never was slie so great as under Napoleon I. 
The glory of France was in the keeping of every household. 
Honesty, vigor and advancement inspired all classes, and their 
every-day life was written in Idood on the battle-fields of almost 
every nation of Europe, and commemorated in the grand column 
in the Place Vendome. 

l>ut peoples, like individuals, never staml still. All exceptions 
to this rule are but insignificant. France gradually and imper- 
ceptibly declined under the restored Bourbon rule, and was ready 
for the gnawdng cancer of tlie second empire. They worshii)i)ed 
the name of Napoleon, and gave hearty enthusiasm to the feeble 
immitations of the weak jiretender who usurped the throne. They 
merited their ancient renown in the Crimea and followed their 
new emiieror to Italy; but decay was indellibly stamped upon the 
French nation, for her once great people were enfeebled liy studied 
profligacy and debauchery, and their decline grew more marked 
with each returning year. At last tli(> terrible avenger came. It 
was not so much Prussia as the ever3Mlay life of the French peo- 
ple. Under the first Na])oleon Prus.sia might havt; defeated them 
in battki, but their homn- and their nationality would have been 
preserved. But their destruction was hastened by a feeble and 
corrupt and corrupting court, until all France could not create a 
leader, liecause her people had lost all their (puUities of greatness. 

It would seem tliat an overruling Providence meant for all 
mankind to have a luost impressive lesson in the late Franco- 
Prussian war. We read and speak of Bismarck and Napoleon as 
if they w^ere its authors. They were but liorne by the flood-tide 
to the grand consummation. Had Bismarck been a Frenchman 



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he would have rotated from local turbulence to exile; and had 
Napoleon been a Prussian, he would have been a third-rate author 
or a soldier unknown to fame. But while France was declining- 
in the moral, mental and physical qualities of her citizens, the 
German people, under a weak but honest ruler, were advancing 
in all that developes and ennobles a nation. It was said that the 
Grerman universities triumphed over the Austrians at Sadowa, 
and that in the late war the soldier of Yon Moltke marched with 
a professor's gown in his knapsack. 'Phese are exaggerated but 
significant delineations of the every-day life of the Gennan peo- 
ple who won at Gravelotte, at Sedan, at Metz, at Strasburg, and 
at Paris. The every-day purity, patriotism, industry, religious 
zeal, and universal education of the German people, ripened them 
for German unity. The Fatherland is their first love, and Bismarck 
was the master architect to rebuild the lost empire. Calm, clear- 
sighted German statesmanship, called him as tW, best type of the 
nation's want, and he saw the foundations well laid, and every- 
thing at hand for the imi)osiiig structure. He could not miscalcu- 
late the venture. The every-day life of forty millions of Germans 
was steadily and surely preparing them for the great work, and 
he li-athered the fulness of their just reward. William now wears 
the imperial crown, and the princes are marshals of the empire, 
and Bismarck is prince of the realm — all wearing well-earned 
honors: but the thoughtful historian will i-ecord the story of the 
households of the fatherland, moulding the solidarity of the Ger- 
man peoples. 

Thermopyh\? was made memorable by the every-day life of the 
Spartan people. They were not more courageous than the other 
soldiers of Greece, but they were a law unto themselves in warfare. 
Had it been an arbitrary decree of a bloody despot, that they 
should never retreat in l)attle, they would have defied it. Had it 
been an exceptional command of Leonidas, it might have been 
disobeyed without peril to reputaticm. But it was the law of the 
Spartan people, made by and for themselves— conceived by their 
idolatry of unfaltering bravery, and it was obeyed by the soldiery 
because each man was but obeying himself. They could have 
retired with credit, according to the generally accepted laws of 
war, as did their comrades ; but they had erected their own strange 
standard of heroism. None could hojx' to survive the unequal 



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conflict, Itut death itself was as notliiiii;: when weiuhctl ai>aiiist the 
honor of tlip Spartan citizen in arms. They fouuht and fell, and 
the colunin that conunemorated their willing sacrifice bore the 
faithful inscription — " Oh stranger, <io tell to the Lacedemonians 
that we lie here in obedience to their laws," 

You will better iippreeintc this important lesson when we glance 
at the startling events which hav(t just trans[)ired in our own midst. 
Most of yon were ca})id)le of intelligent convictions, touching 
the gre;it war of the reliellion, from its beginning to tlie consum- 
mation of its logical results. It is said, however, that children 
believe that all the mighty i-c\ olutions of war or peace happened 
long before they lived, and it is (piite true of men as well. Few, 
indeed, who witnessed the colossal sti'iiggle between the North and 
tlu' South, can measure its marvelous acliic\ements or its moment- 
ous conse([uences. Its heroes sprang from our own every-day 
circles, and we cannot invest them with the romnnce that history 
will weave so beautifully about them. The grave ((uestions to be 
decided in the cabinet and in the field, we deei(le<l ourselves in 
our every -d;i\' actions. Our every-day education an<l progress 
advanced the statesman ;ind standards of the nation, ;ind as a 
people we were almost imperceptibly and unconsciously working 
out to its crowning triumph — Man's noblest struggle for Man. 
The thoughtless and superficial blamed the politicians, and wrong- 
fully charged tlunn with the country's misfoi'tunes. Tliey were 
bad enough, and may have (|uickened the coidlict; but when the 
passions of civil strilV shall subside, and the imjiartial hisloriiui 
comes to record the most thrilling annals of civilized warfare, it 
will be truthfully told, that two brave and powerful peoples had 
exhausted compromise on irreconcilable dilferences of national 
policy, and accepted the inevitable arbitranient of the sword. 

A <iuaint, uncouth and untried man, was called to the chief 
magistracy of the nation to grapj)le with issues of incalculab'e 
moment. Experienced and cultivated statesmanshi]» was appalle<l 
at the consunung disorder that beset the governmenl, and it had 
little faith in the wisdom that was to guide the old ship through 
the tempestuous sea of bitter sectional estrangement. l>ut the 
guiding star of national safety was the single-hearted and faithful 
ruler who was from the people and of the i)eople. I have heard 
him lament in profoundest sorrow, in the dark days of the struggle. 



j^^^ 



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that scai-cel3^ a score of senators and congrefAsnien were in sincere 
accord with his convictions of public duty. It was their preroga- ' 
five to counsel and to complain — it was his to decide and to act | 
for thirty millions of his countrymen. They l)owed to the expedi- 
ents which arose with each day — he was the guardian of the 
noblest patrimony that future generations coukl inherit. He 
resisted the imperious demands of one-idea leaders, until, in his 
calm, patient reflection, lie felt that the fulness of time for the 
oreat epoch of the war had been readied. He looked solely to 
the necessities and to the sentiments of the people. "What 1 do 
about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps { 
to save this Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not | 
believe that it will help to save the Union," was one of his trite 
and pungent sentences addressed in reply to a sincere criticism; 
and it frankly defined his whole policy ou the great question that 
was convulsing friends and foes alike. Had he been a supreme , 
trickster, or what the world calls a trained and subtle statesman, he i 
niio-ht have made the wounds of the country seem less ghastly than | 
they were, and deluded the people to be content with healing- the , 
surface, leaving the terrible gangrene deeply imbedded in the body j 
politic, to sap its vitality and finally break out afresh with resist- j 
less virulence. But he believed in self-government, and believing, , 
he maintained it. At Gettysburg, in dedicatin-' the resting-pl-ice | 
of the martyrs who IV'll in the decisive battle of the war, he dv- 
clared the hio-h resolve which ever animated him — ''that govern- i 
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish , 
from the earth." He advanced only as the people advanced* i 
When they faltered under the grinding exactions and sore sacrifices | 
of the conflict, he parleyed until they were reinspired. His whole 
administration, touching the threatened dismemberment of the 
republic, was but the varying record of the every -day current and 
inspiration of the great fountain of popular power. Its violence 
was severely criticized, but it was ever rocked upon the boisterous 
waves of revolution. The whole contest, from its inception until 
its issues were finally decided, was but one continuous revolutionary 
progression. It was honestly and earnestly assaUed by the high- 
est waves of partisan hostility, but he Avas faithful in the one 
supreme purpose of national unity, and a people equally faithful, 
generously forgave in all minor issues what they could not approve. 



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Had he been called to the Presidency before the wiiv, with nothing 
but the ordinary political strife to quicken the i)uisati()ns of the 
national heart, he woukl have been but an ordinary, and jterhaps 
an unsuccessful, executive. Unschooled and unapt in political 
management, he would have been paralyzed by the abler and more 
adroit machinations of jealous rivalry, and the logical sequence 
must have been failure. But ;i ureat occasion imposed great 
duties upon the people and upon their chief ruler. It was for 
them to count the cost and to pay the appalling- tribute. Tiiey 
felt, as their president so forcil)ly expressed it in his first message 
— "This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the 
Union it is a struggle for maintaiuin.u- in the woi'ld that form and 
substance of government, whose leading object is to elevate the 
condition of men;" and only the man of the people could success- 
fully lead them, through fearful tribulation, to their national 
deliverance. 

Had Mr. Lincoln been a citizen of the South, and ardently in 
sympathy with its cause, he could not have administered the gov- 
ernment of the confederacy for a twelve-month. Nor could Mr. 
Davis, with his confessed administrative ability, have conducted 
the war as the executive of the Union. Men of the types of these 
two rulers were not rare in both the North and South during 
the war, and sincerely devoted to their respective sections; but 
they were felt or unfelt just as their leading characteristics were in 
accord or in antagonism with the great purpose of their people. 
Had the causes of these two civil leader's not been essentially and 
irreconcilably at variance, there would have been no dissevered 
States and no war; and being vitally discordant, their rulers and 
heroes were created for widel}^ different purposes, and of necessity 
from the most opposite of elements. Each was the true creation 
of his own people, and I believe that both fdled the possil)le 
measure of the duties assigned them. One was successful, and 
success is the most successful of all human rewards. The other 
failed, and must answer for all the errors that failure so greedil}' 
groups and magnifies. The confederacy was reared upon despot- 
ism. Its boasted corner-stone was caste. Its theory of govern- 
ment avowed the inequality of human riglits before the law. A 
cold, polished, able and sincere despot only could crystallize such 
a movement, and accept a conflict that braved the progress of 



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onligliteiied civilization. lie wiis the offspring, not the parent, of 
a monstrous wrong. However diversified tlieir views may have 
l)een at the beginning-, for four years the southern people waged 
war for the dissolution of the Union, and proved their devotion 
on many bravely contested battle-fields. Their President was 
their chosen leader, their faithful exponent, and his failure was 
but the accomplished failure of the every-da3^ 'i^"^ — ^^ the habits, 
convictions, and teachings, for more than a generation, of eight 
millions of our fellow citizens. 

Equally marked were the opposite requirements of tlu' northern 
and southern peoples, in selecting their great captains from widel}' 
opposite characteristics of militarv genius. Grant and Lee were 
coufessedl} the heroes of the sanguinary struggle. In their re- 
spective positions, none could have been greater — none more 
successful. I)ut had Grant been a confederate and Lee a federal, 
both would have been good soldiers^ — neither a successful general. 
Both reached supreme command over stars which had glittered 
and pale !, because they respectively iilled the measure of their 
peoples' necessities. The contest was unequal in respect' to 
nnmlters and resources. The South nvpiired the g<'nius to hus- 
band, to protract, to give battle onl}- when superior forces were 
neutralized by position or circumstances. The North demanded 
swift and crushing blows. Its hunger-cry was, battle — victory! 
One sought its most trusted and skillful defender; the other called 
for its most persistent and obstinate assailant. The South found 
its true tj'pe of a warrior early in the strife. The North would 
have revolted at the Wilderness campaign had it Ijecji attempted 
one year earlier. In the late fall of ISIU I heard the inquiry made 
of a gallant officer, who subsequently* commanded the arm}-- of the 
Potomac — "Why do you n(jt advance?" The answer was — "We 
could move directly upon Manassas and Richmond, and capture 
both, but it would cost,ten thousand men to do it," and cavil was 
silenced. Ten times ten thousand men were killed, wounded and 
missing in military movements well meant to economize the terri- 
ble sacrifice. Then half as many more fell in the campaign of 
1864, which was wisely planned in accord with the nation's inevi- 
table need, and executed with marvelous heroism and skill. Grant 
fought just one defensive battle during the war. He lost it, and 
lost his command. liCe conducted two offensive campaigns, and 



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botli were disMstcrs. "I |)i-i)|)(),se lo lij>lil ii out (ni this line i:' it 
takes all siuuuier." was (Jruiit's echo from the Wildciness, of ihc 
throlthiiig po[)ular iicarl in the North. " A renewal of ihc eii.u'ii.Lie- 
meiit could not be hazarded," were the sober words with wh'cli 
Lee assured the South that though Gett^-sburg was losl. the 
aririv was not sacrificed. These chieftains were the failld'ui crea- 
tions of the every-day lives, the purposes, ilie li()[)es, and the 
wants of their peoples; and their acliievenienls were lint the 
patient)}^ and painfull}' Avroi;ght consummation of years ol' mingled 
thought and action in the homes of the nation. 

The same causes which have created the heroes and sages of 
the world's history, have been the chief agencies in the rai)!d pro- 
o-ress of Christian civilization. Its orioin was divine, hut the 
means employed for its diffusion are within the econora}' of human 
BiTorts and influences, and the every-day lives of sincere Christian 
people are the most impressive and successful of all its teachers. 
The every-day life of Christ silences the scandal of the scoffer, 
and it resolves the doubts of tiiousauds whose frailties question 
the olliccs of faith. His was the one perfect life among men. He 
was sorely tempted, and lie knew nc^t sin. He was reviled and 
persiicuted, and He [irayed — "Father, forgive them." His teach- 
ings were pure as the fountain of inspiration, whence they came, 
and His daily walk and actions confounded a sinful world that 
sought in vain for the hdemish on His garment. Even tho-e who 
reject Him as the Messiah ))ronounce Him the best of men, and 
confess the happ}' influence of His sound' precepts and blanicii ss ex- 
ample. At Antioch, the seat of learning and lu.xury and nior.il pro- 
fligacy, His humble followers were classed as Christians. Tiiey 
were distinguished from the wa^'s of mankind about them, and the 
Christian era was thus named. Trace it thence through the revo 
lutions of nearly two thousand years- — ^through the gradual tri- 
umphs of error by the gradual corruption of the i)eople — throuijh 
the terrible penalties w-hich slowl}' but surel}' came as withering 
vengeance from heaven; and through seasons of moral darkness 
which appeared as if ho^DC had fled from man. In all these 
wonderful mutations, not meri' rulers or leaders are answerable 
for results. They were but the creatures of the ebbing and flow- 
ing tides of popular degeneracy, or of the struggles of the people 
for their temporal or spiritual amelioration. Th(! State corrupted 



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the Church; the Church subordinated the State, and the battle- 
axe smote the altars where the faithful worshipped. The name 
and ceremonies of the Church were prostituted to the flagrant 
abuse of external government, until national and religious decay 
made civilization a reproach. We point to the Reformation as 
the date of the new Christian era that has so rapidly advanced 
and ennobled the human race. But when and what was the Re- 
formation? Luther and Calvin were but the builders of Protest- 
antism. Its fouudations had long been laid ; its corner-stones had 
been fashioned 1)}' centuries of consistent devotion, and all its 
materials had been framed and seasoned for the imposing temple. 
The martyr of Bohemia had gone to the stake a century before, 
and Wickliffe had taught still half a centur3' earlier. The line of 
reformers is unbroken from the date of the Son of man until now. 
There were periods when their voices were hushed, and when they 
would have taught as to the winds had they dared to teach; but 
there were e very-day lives, in every State, whose purity of character 
and action were like the silver dew-drops of the morning when the 
earth is parched to desolation. And when the struo-o-le beiiran, the 
world was in travail for two centuries before the Reformation was 
born. The " reformers before the Reformation " are not unnoticed 
in history; but before them still were the ever living currents 
of Christian life. Like the w^aters of the western desert, which 
hide from the w(Mrd and burning waste, but rise again where there 
are life and beauty. Christian excellence and Christian influence 
coursed onward through ages of degenorac3% until they swelled up 
as the flood-tide that I)ore Ijuther and Calvin to the great work. 
Luther ignited the latent spark that illumined the world. An 
unscrupulous Dominican friar made him revolt against the power 
from which he had accepted Holy Orders. The first step once 
taken, he earnesth^ sought the truth, and as he advanced he was 
followed by many who had long aided to influence, and had long- 
felt the influence of, the Reformation. He little dreamed of the 
slumbering unrest that was beneath the serene surface of the 
power of the Church. When he boldly erected the standard of 
regeneration, the quickened life of the people made his journe}' to 
Worms a triumphal ovation, and he entered the citj^ chanting the 
song of the disenthralled, for the Reformation had its MarseiUaise. 
Nor has the lapse of time, nor the rapid strides of enlightened 



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proti-ress, chang-ecl the chief agenc}' of Christuui tulvaiicoiueiit. 
The Church has great teachers — men whose fame is Avorld-wide, 
and man}^ stars may be worn in their crowns. And we have books, 
and journals, and periodicals, and tracts, whicli ti-ll ni every door 
of the way of redemption; but above all and successful over all, 
is the every-day Christian life that is silently but surely restrain- 
inu' evil, and telling to all around it in gentle, ceaseless whispers 
tliat the good only are happ}', hopeful and great. 

I would not seek to dim the lustre that brightens the memor}- 
of the names which are interwoven with the world's great events. 
Not one leaf should be plucked from their laurels. They are as 
In-iolit beacons along the dark wavs of our iournev, and thev are 
standards which invite emulation. The higher you place your 
standard, the higher will be the measure of your attainment. 
You may fall far short of the realization of your dreams, but no 
earnest efforts in the rig-ht direction can be wholly lost. Still 
behind you, and far off yet behind others, will be struggling- mortals 
to take fresh inspiration by what you, in your failure, have won. 
But I would remind 3'ou of the source, the currents, the tides, and 
the havens of the troubled waters on which you are about to em- 
bark. The broad ocean of life is made up of individual lives, and 
each has its labor to perform in rearing the angry waves of the 
tempest, or in settling the calm surface of the world's repose. I 
watched a clear, cool bubbling spring as it rose on the summit of 
the rocky range, and its little streamlet hurrying off in fretful mur- 
murs to the eastern sea. An ox would drain its overflow, 3'et it is 
the source of the Father of Waters. It dashes down the rude 
declivities and foams through the narrow canons, joined in every 
ravine by its tributaries, until it washes the precious metals from 
their long hiding places, and quenches the thirst of the luxuriant 
mountain valleys. Around it on ever}- side, through the chaos of 
bald cliffs and green ranges, come man}' streams of every character 
and temperament. Hot geysers are flung into the air, and from 
the pierced rocks the cold, crystal waters flow. Strange minerals 
give the hues of the chameleon to some, and others encrust 
their fountains with monuments created b}' the wealth they 
hold in solution. Here are boiling currents, and there are tepid 
wells, and ^-onder are silver lakes; but all, all course onward 
and are lost in the great river, which in turn is lost in the vast 



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16 



ocean. Did I say lost ? — let me recall it. Not one drop of all 
those various springs is lost. Not one of all their varied 
dualities o-oes for nouo-ht. Thouoh all are blended in one tern- 
peranient, and all become alike in their elements, 3'et each 
has its office in moulding the qualities of the river and the 
ocean. Nor are these little sources limited to the task of shaping 
th*^ character of the great streams into which the}- flow. Each b}' 
itself has some good work to dn. They have cooled the lips of 
peoples and of creatures which we know not of. They have 
gathered the mountain riches, in single sands, during forgotten 
ages, to be ripe for the necessities of civiUzation. They have 
ojiened new fields for science, and made paths plain where the 
learned have stumbled. They have swept the scant fertility of the 
ruo-o-od hills, and made lu'oad meadows for man to develope into 
beauty and plenty. Each babbling rivulet, and each particle of 
itself, have never been idle nor have they toiled in vain. They 
may have been sent to flood the plains, or to fill the mountain 
gorges. Thence they may have been diffused as the mists of the 
morning, or drunk in by the insatiate earth. But they have ever 
returned and ever will. They may rise* and fall in some far distant 
clime, to revive the drooping plant or glitter on the fragrant flower; 
or they may come in the scalding tear, or in the tinted rainbow, or 
in the gentle dews, or in the destruction of the tempest. 

What I would most pointedly illustrate is the va)ue and influ- 
ence and duty of each individual every-day life. But few even of 
the most learned can have their names inscribed on what we call 
the '• scroll of fame " ; but that rare attainment is not the true 
measure of -a. great life. I speak of what all classes are most 
prone to forget, and what the ambitious and cultivated youth, , 
more than others, is likely to overlook. You turn to the monu- 
ments of greatness as preserved in the history of human efl'orts; 
l)ut you are unmindfid that the sources of all memorable events, | 
and of all distinguished benefactors, are the infinite individual 
beings who make up the family of mankind. I would not have 
you close your eyes to the fact, that the w^orld has had its Caesars 
and Napoleons, its Shakspeares and Miltons, its Washingtons and 
Jacksons, its Clays and Calhouns, its Lincolns and Douglasses. 
; Well-directed ambition animates to nol)le deeds and adorns a 
noble life; l)ut the faithful aim should be to make one pure, un- | 



^ 17 f 



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selfisli, earnest oven-day existence. Tlu^ valne <•!' such ;i life is 
jncalculahle. It may not lie heralded to the world, m- l)c notalilc in 
history, Imt it is a pcrpet n.,il well-sprinii- of blessings to its autlior, 
and to all within the ranue of its intluence, and tlic end of its good 
otflees cannot be measured.. All see the pui-e fountain, di'ink of 
its refreshing waters, and all of bounty and beauty around it 
mutely but eh>quent!y testify to the grandeur of its atributes. 
The l)rilliant meteor Hashes, expires, and is fprgotten. The comet 
comes to note the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and passes 
away. I>ut tlic goddess of niiihl, and her countless family of niei-ry 
stars, return with the (lecliiie of duy and perlorm their ceaseless 
nnssioH. Man^• are unnoticed; nnllions are uids^nown ; l)ut they 
all join in liitiiig the curtain ol' darkness, and are as j)rieelcss 
diamonds of beauty and endless sources of beueticencc. 

r^ook we'i to the single, individual life, and guai'd with jealous 
c;u'e against the and)ition tiiat would make you ihe prey of a 
selfish struggle tor mere distinction among men. It is a slow, 
deadh' poison to tiie integrity of youth. It dwarfs and jiaralyzes 
mature manhood. It eliills all the nobler aspirati(uis of our nature. 
It hastens a vexed life to withered and untimely senility. To 
such the world is a vast, dreary solitude, save as it nnnisters 
to one unholy, unsatisfying ])urpose. Their elTorts are like foot- 
l)rints in the shifting sands of the desert — the simoon sweeps 
over them and they are effaced fore\er. All the hopes and aims 
of an immoi'tal l»eing ai'e staked upon an attainnu-nt which, if 
won, is but a hollow, fleeting bau1)le, ami its garlands tui-n to 
burning ashes when they are grasped. A erowded throng has 
run this thorny, cheerless course, and innumerable throngs will 
persist in clouding and perverting bright lives, only to tell in„the 
end how their ilays were ''worse \hau basely lost." 

Soon you will go hence, titted for the better clTorts of mankintl, 
and strong in the vigor of youth and hoi)e. Go l)ack to the great 
school whose portals are never closed, whose admonitions are 
never voiceless, and whose li(nH:)rs are rich in lusti'e. ami fade not 
when the solier <'vening-time shall bid you set your house in 
order. Learn that he is ever a stranger in the land who does not 
live for others, and that — 

" He mo»t Uvcs, 
Who thinks Uic most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 



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The whole family of man is mingled in a mass of mutual teachers 
and pupils, and each individual life should take its part in 
advancing and elevating the human race. Wherever you may 
be, or however conditioned, the field will be boundless. Every 
passing day should save some bruised reed, or solace some bitter 
sorrow, or halt some wayward step, or inspire some wise resolve. 
This is the lesson of the pure, the hopeful, the earnest every-day 
life. It is always being- taught, and always teaching; always- 
l)olishing some lustrous gem, to note that it leaves the world 
better than it was found. Its course of study is never finished; 
its work is never done. It makes the peaceful home, whose door 
is not passed without a welcome. It brightens the places of the 
lowly, and is felt in the temples of pride and selfishness. Itis ever 
sowing, ever reaping, ever garnering, and only in the fullness of 
time can its jewels be counted. It is the sublimity of well-spent 
years, in which "Life is Peace." 



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